The meeting between Japan's finance minister and the US treasury secretary in Washington on Thursday seems to have eased recent concerns about the strengthening yen.



Finance Minister Kato Katsunobu says the US did not bring up currency targets in the meeting, which lasted about 50 minutes.



"There was no talk from the US side about currency levels, targets or any framework to manage exchange rates," he said.



Kato says that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent agreed that exchange rates should be determined by the market.



They also confirmed that excessively volatile or disorderly currency markets can undermine economic and financial stability. Kato says he and Bessent agreed to keep in close consultation on currency issues.



The meeting came after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said the yen was too weak against the dollar. In comments on Wednesday, Trump said Japan "would always fight" to keep its currency low.



Trump's comments led to speculation Washington would push for a stronger yen, which prompted recent gains in the currency. The Kato-Bessent meeting appears to have deflated some of those concerns ... with the yen weakening in Tokyo trading on Friday.



In other markets, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 benchmark stock index gained ground, ending Friday at 35,705, up almost 2 percent from the previous day.