StanChart: $65B Interventions Flip Yen Overvalued, Defending USD/JPY High-150s Floor

USD/JPY trades choppily near 150-158 intervention lines after Japan's suspected $65bn interventions flipped the yen from undervalued to slightly overvalued, per StanChart. Authorities spent ~¥5.5tn ($35bn) on May 1 to drop the pair from 160 to mid-155s, followed by a May 6 operation plunging it 200 pips from 158, with total spend nearing ¥10tn ($60-70bn). Rebounds persist amid $115 Brent oil, 500bps US-Japan rate gaps, weak wages (+2.7% y/y), IMF constraints, and BoJ hike doubts from BBH, MUFG, HSBC, limiting sustained yen strength without policy normalization or Middle East de-escalation.