Government interventions in the currency markets seldom seem to have long-term effects, but the Japanese move to halt the yen’s USDJPY relentless rise has been pretty effective as these things go, according to Andrew Wilkinson, senior market analyst at interactivebrokers.com. A 4% slump in the yen was the largest since intervention in October 2008 and achieved more today than when G7 central bankers joined forces on March 17 in the wake of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. However: The question now is not whether the bank of Japan’s effort will be sustained, but whether the yen will obey its command. That’s largely out of the control of the Japanese as evidenced by plunging equity markets around the world. It’s likely that all said and done, strength in the yen is likely to remain pernicious.

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