LONDON, May 3 Reuters The yen was headed for its biggest weekly gain in 16 months on Friday, helped by Japan39;s suspected intervention this week to pull the currency away from 34year lows, while the dollar index fell to a threeweek low ahead of U.S. jobs data.

The yen rose to a threeweek high of 152.75 per dollar during Asian trade and was set to clock a weekly gain of 3.19, its largest since January 2023. It was last 0.26 higher on the day at 153.25 per dollar.

Traders were left on tenterhooks for any further huge swings in the yen after Tokyo was suspected to have intervened to support its currency this week, on Monday and on Wednesday, to the tune of some 9.16 trillion yen 59.8 billion, as suggested by data from Bank of Japan.

The second round of intervention in one week, deployed after a less hawkish than expected FOMC U.S. Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday, has sent markets the message that the Ministry of Finance is less tolerant of a postintervention depreciation of the yen this time, said Francesco Pesole, currency strategist at ING, recalling the yen fall after Japan39;s FX intervention in September 2022.

The Fed held interest rates steady, as expected, at the conclusion of its twoday monetary policy meeting on Wednesday.

Traders are now looking to U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due later on Friday, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that interest rates might have to remain elevated for longer but shot down talk of raising them…