* Yen jump to 3-month high spurs speculation of more

intervention

* Carmakers lead stock retreat as currency strength sours

outlook

* Short-term yields rise to 30-year high on BOJ hike

expectations

(Updates prices following stock market close)

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO, Aug 3 (Reuters) - The yen leapt on Monday, while

Japanese stocks and bonds fell after Tokyo confirmed a rare

joint intervention with Washington to pull the Japanese currency

off four-decade lows.

The yen jumped as much as 1.4% to 155.20 per U.S.

dollar, a level last seen on May 6. The sudden surge raised

speculation among market participants of another round of

intervention, following the joint action last week, when the yen

surged 3.8% over Thursday and Friday.

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to

comment on whether her ministry had intervened on Monday.

"The coordinated intervention has materially raised the cost

of betting against the yen," said Charu Chanana, chief

investment strategist at Saxo.

"It not only caught speculative positioning offside but also

increased the risk of follow-up action, which should make

investors more cautious about rebuilding aggressive short-yen

positions."

The sudden gain in the yen weighed on Japanese stocks. The

Nikkei retreated sharply from Friday's one-week high,

sliding as much as 2.6%, while the Topix tumbled 3.1%. A

stronger yen slashes the value of overseas revenue for domestic

exporters.

Losses had narrowed by the close, though, with the Nikkei

ending down about 1% at 63,754.90 and the Topix shedding 1.1% to

3,960.03.

Automakers were among the worst performers, with Toyota ( TM )

slumping 3.4% and Suzuki sliding 6.7%.

Japanese government bonds declined, sending yields higher as

some investors took joint intervention as a signal for an

accelerated pace of Bank of Japan policy tightening.

The yield on Japan's 2-year government bond,

the tenor most sensitive to monetary policy expectations, rose

5.5 basis points to 1.56%, a three-decade high.

The 5-year JGB yield climbed as much as 6.5

basis points to a record-high 2.09%. The 10-year yield

climbed as much as 3.5 basis points to 2.83%.

"Japan and the U.S. conducted joint currency intervention,

which means Japan is under pressure to support the yen with

fundamentals this time, such as with monetary policy," said

Rinto Maruyama, senior strategist of FX and rates at SMBC Nikko

Securities.

Japan's currency has been under pressure for years,

undermined by the BOJ's gradual approach to monetary policy

tightening, which has kept yield differentials wide between

Japan and the rest of the world.

The yen changed hands at 156.82 per dollar as of 0648 GMT,

up around 0.4% on the day.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington "will

not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention,"

while repeating calls for further interest rate hikes from

Japan's central bank.

The BOJ kept its policy rate steady on Friday, but warned

for the first time that underlying inflation could exceed its

target and said future policy discussions would focus on upside

price risks.

"Bessent's comments arguably carry more weight than the

intervention itself," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst

at StoneX. "It feels like a safe bet that the Japanese yen has

troughed for the year."

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Varun H K and

Subhranshu Sahu)