US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent posted on social media on Friday, Eastern Time, that he had a "productive call" with Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama that day. They discussed "the desirability of a strong yen that reflects Japan's robust economic fundamentals" and emphasized the importance of continuing close communication on foreign exchange markets. Previously, Bloomberg reported that Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama revealed that Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi both discussed the weakening yen during their meeting this week, with Takaichi also telling Trump that the undervalued yen "is problematic." Following these official statements, the yen's gains expanded, with USD/JPY briefly falling below 157.00 to 156.94 during intrad trading, a daily decline of 1.2%, retreating from the high above 159.00 reached on Thursday, the highest since September 2.