The yen soared after Japan’s first intervention in the market in almost 25 years

The dollar fell 1.2% to 142.33 yen in afternoon hours. Came down to 140.31 yen after the intervention and before it came to touch a new maximum of 24 years at 145.9 yenmaking the spread between the day’s high and low for the pair the widest since June 2016.

North American traders cautiously pushed the dollar higher against the yen following the Japanese authorities’ moves, but for now, few are challenging the intervention. “The market is nervous”, said Steven Englander, head of North American foreign exchange trading at Standard Chartered in New York.

The euro, the Australian dollar and the British pound also fell against the Japanese currency.

The confirmation of the intervention by the Japanese authorities came hours after the Central Bank of Japan (BoJ) decided to keep interest rates low to support the country’s fragile economic recovery.

Instead, central banks around the world, most notably the US Federal Reserve, are aggressively raising rates and the policy divergence has weighed on the yen.

Analysts indicated that Japan cannot continue to support the currency on a sustained basis. “In the next three to six months, or even longer, as long as those divergences in monetary policy continue to exist and those differences persist, you will continue to see a weaker yen,” said Brendan McKenna of Wells Fargo Securities.

In a busy day for markets, the British pound parried the small gain made after the Bank of England raised rates by 50 basis points. The British currency fell 0.2% to $1.1251, close to a fresh 37-year low hit earlier at $1.1213.

The euro was little changed at $0.9832, recovering from a fresh 20-year low hit earlier in global session. The dollar index fell 0.1% to 111.31 units, from a two-decade high hit earlier in the day at 111.81.