Yen leaps, stocks and bonds drop as Japan confirms joint intervention with US

TOKYO, Aug. 3 (Reuters) - The yen leapt on Monday, while stocks and bonds fell after Tokyo confirmed a rare joint currency intervention with Washington to pull the Japanese currency off four-decade lows.

The yen JPY= jumped as much as 1.4% in the Asian morning to 155.20 per U.S. dollar, a level last seen on May 6. The sudden surge provoked speculation among market participants of another round of intervention, following the joint action last week, with the yen surging 3.8% over Thursday and Friday.

However, Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to comment on whether her ministry had intervened in the market on Monday.

"The coordinated intervention has materially raised the cost of betting against the yen," said Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo. "It not only caught speculative positioning offside but also increased the risk of follow-up action, which should make investors more cautious about rebuilding aggressive short-yen positions."