Scott Bessent

Oil tumbles, stocks hit records as Bessent floats Hormuz deal

Oil prices fell sharply on Tuesday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said a deal could be reached with Tehran within days on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, raising hopes of an end to five months of disruption to global…

Bessent warns weak yen could trigger Asian currency wars

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned on Monday that continued weakness in the Japanese yen could fuel inflation in Japan and put pressure on other Asian currencies, days after Washington and Tokyo confirmed their first joint currency intervention in 15…

Bessent vows to repeat joint yen intervention, urges bigger Fed backstop

The United States and Japan confirmed on Sunday that they conducted a coordinated yen-buying intervention on Friday — the first joint currency market action by the two countries in 15 years — to counter what officials described as "excessive volatility…

Bessent exposes note to buy $5-10B in yen at cabinet meeting

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent inadvertently revealed a handwritten "to-do" list during a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday that indicated plans to purchase $5 billion to $10 billion worth of Japanese yen, according to a Reuters photograph taken…

Bessent calls yen ‘very undervalued,’ backs Japan intervention

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday that the Japanese yen appears "very undervalued," remarks that amount to an endorsement of Japan's apparent intervention in currency markets earlier in the day. The comments, made during a Fox Business interview,…

Trump says frozen Iranian assets will cover Gulf ship damage

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States will use Iranian funds under its control to pay for damage sustained by ships and cargo in the Gulf region, his latest escalatory move in the ongoing confrontation with Tehran over…

Bessent pressed Japan to raise rates to 31-year high, Nikkei reports

The Bank of Japan's decision to raise interest rates to their highest level since 1995 was driven in part by pressure from US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who urged Japanese officials to tighten policy sooner rather than later to avoid…