Bank of Japan on 18 September: how did you manage USD/JPY risk with intervention still possible?

FTC Community TeamStaff17 Sept 2026127 views

Update, 18 September: the Bank of Japan raised its policy rate from 1.00% to 1.25% on a 7–2 vote (report). The questions below still apply to how you managed the day.

Bank of Japan on 18 September: how did you manage USD/JPY risk with intervention still possible? — central bank rate path diagram — A central bank's policy rate path across recent meetings

The Bank of Japan announced its decision on 18 September. It held its policy rate at 1.00% in July with one member voting for an increase (preview), and Japan and the United States intervened together to support the yen on 31 July (report).

That leaves USD/JPY traders with two kinds of event risk: a scheduled decision, and intervention that can come without warning.

Bank of Japan on 18 September: how did you manage USD/JPY risk with intervention still possible? — pip movement diagram — How a pip moves the exchange rate

We'd like to hear:

whether you trade yen pairs around the BoJ at all, or step aside
how you set stops when a sudden move of several hundred pips is possible
whether the Fed's increase this week changed how you see the pair

Please don't post trade calls for others to copy. Explaining your own risk rules is the most useful thing you can share.

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FTC Community Team1 mo ago
A few practical risk rules traders describe for yen pairs around a Bank of Japan meeting, to add to members' replies.
- Know when the decision can land. The Bank of Japan doesn't publish a fixed announcement time. Its decision often arrives around midday in Tokyo, which is the middle of the night in Europe.
- Size for the extreme move. With intervention possible, some traders size as if the stop could fill several hundred pips away, even if they place it closer.
- Avoid adding near old intervention levels. The joint intervention on 31 July (report) showed where officials were willing to act.
- Consider the rate gap. The Fed's increase on 16 September to 3.75%–4.00% widened the gap with Japan. The BoJ's increase to 1.25% on 18 September narrowed it a little, but the gap is still more than 2.5 percentage points.
In July the rate was held at 1.00% with one member voting for an increase (preview); on 18 September the board voted 7–2 to raise it (report), so the vote was worth watching as much as the decision. Background: currency intervention explained.
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