Fed says last month's 'rate checks' were at Treasury's request

Feb 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. central bank on Wednesday confirmed it had asked dealers last month for quotes on ?dollar/yen rates at the behest ?of the U.S. Treasury,?an unusual move that strengthened the ?stubbornly weak yen and put investors on ?alert for the first joint ?U.S.-Japan currency ?intervention in 15 years.

"In the days leading up to ?the meeting, the dollar ?had depreciated markedly after reports that the Desk had made requests ?for indicative quotes, known ?as "rate ?checks," on the dollar-yen exchange rate," the Fed said in minutes of its January ?27-28 meeting published on Wednesday with ?the usual three-week lag. "The manager noted that the Desk had requested those quotes solely on behalf of the U.S. Treasury ?in ?the Federal Reserve Bank of ?New York's role as the fiscal agent ?for the U.S."

Reports of the unusual rate check by the New York Fed in late January lifted the yen against the dollar. They were not followed by clear signs of ?large-scale intervention by either country.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied that the U.S. was ?intervening in currency markets.

(Reporting ?by Ann Saphir, Editing ?by Nick Zieminski)