The Japanese yen traded around 158.8 per dollar on Thursday after rallying sharply overnight on speculation that authorities had conducted a rate check, where officials would contact banks to check on exchange rates and signal the possibility of intervention. The yen jumped as much as 1.2% to 158.21 in New York trading on Wednesday, keeping markets on alert for any signs that authorities could step in again to support the Japanese currency. The yen sank to 40-year lows in late July amid wide interest rate differentials, growing fiscal concerns and elevated energy and import costs, shortly before Tokyo and Washington conducted a joint yen-buying operation. Meanwhile, BOJ board member Hajime Takata raised the possibility of outsized or back-to-back rate hikes to contain rising inflationary pressures. Governor Kazuo Ueda also said that policymakers need to pay greater attention to upside price risks when conducting monetary policy, signaling that a rate hike is likely later this month.