monetary policy

Yen stays weak near 159 as bond yields hit 30-year high

The Japanese yen hovered near 159 per dollar this week, stuck close to multi-decade lows even as Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond yield climbed to its highest level in three decades and markets priced in a strong chance of a…

Japan’s 10-year bond yield hits 30-year high, rattling U.S. Treasuries

Japan's benchmark 10-year government bond yield climbed to approximately 2.93% on Monday, its highest level since September 1996, intensifying concerns that Japanese institutional investors will begin redirecting capital away from U.S. Treasuries and into higher-yielding domestic debt.

China’s premier vows new policies after July data misses forecasts

Chinese Premier Li Qiang convened a State Council plenary meeting on Monday, acknowledging that "insufficient domestic demand remains prominent" and pledging to roll out "practical and effective new policies in a timely manner" after July economic data came in well…

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Asian markets mixed as Japan’s GDP growth misses forecasts

Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed in early Monday trading even as government data showed the economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter, while the yen edged higher against the dollar as traders recalibrated expectations for US monetary policy.

Global bond yields hit highest level since 2008 crisis

Global bond yields have surged to their highest levels since the 2008 financial crisis, with markets pricing in aggressive monetary tightening across multiple economies simultaneously — a shift that threatens to undermine bonds' traditional role as a portfolio hedge and…

China shifts July economic data release to Monday afternoon

China's National Bureau of Statistics has broken with its standard morning release schedule, moving the publication of July 2026 economic indicators to 3 p.m. Beijing time on Monday, August 17. The unusual shift has drawn attention from traders and analysts…

BOJ eyeing September rate hike, faster tightening pace

The Japanese yen firmed against the US dollar this week as Reuters reported that the Bank of Japan is set to raise interest rates as soon as September, with markets now pricing in nearly an 80% probability of a hike…

China’s July bank loans post record contraction on weak demand

China's new yuan loans contracted by 340 billion yuan ($50.4 billion) in July, marking the worst monthly decline on record and far exceeding forecasts, as weak borrowing demand from households and businesses underscored the persistent challenges facing the world's second-largest…

Markets price 76% chance of BOJ rate hike in September as yen slides back toward 160

The Japanese yen has retraced roughly half its gains from late July's coordinated US-Japan currency intervention, drifting back toward the psychologically important 160-per-dollar level even as markets rapidly price in a Bank of Japan rate hike next month. USD/JPY traded…

Japan’s government backs faster BOJ rate hike to defend yen

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's government has signaled support for a near-term interest rate increase by the Bank of Japan, with September or October emerging as the most likely timing for the next move, according to a Bloomberg report published on…

Policy sentiment turns hawkish at 12 of 14 major central banks

Policy-outlook sentiment has turned more hawkish at 12 of 14 major central banks over the past year, even as the Federal Reserve and Bank of England have kept rates unchanged since December, according to data published Monday by Permutable.

Bessent, Takaichi split on BOJ policy threatens yen rescue

Less than two weeks after the United States and Japan launched their first joint currency intervention in roughly 15 years, a growing rift between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi over Bank of Japan monetary policy…

European energy stocks surge as Mideast tensions drive oil to monthly highs

European shares edged higher on Tuesday as energy stocks rallied on elevated oil prices driven by ongoing Middle East uncertainty, even as broader markets remained cautious ahead of key economic data later this week.

Ueda’s hawkish signal prompted rare US-Japan yen intervention, officials say

The United States and Japan jointly intervened in foreign exchange markets to buy yen on July 30, a rare coordinated action that multiple Japanese government officials now say was triggered by Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda's hawkish signals on…

BOJ policymakers push for faster rate hikes as yen weakness persists

The Australian dollar has surged to its strongest level against the Japanese yen in roughly 35 years, driven by a widening gap between the Reserve Bank of Australia's hawkish inflation stance and the Bank of Japan's comparatively accommodative policy. The…

BOJ summary reveals board split on accelerating rate hikes

The Bank of Japan released the Summary of Opinions from its July 30-31 policy meeting on Monday, revealing a divided board wrestling with whether to accelerate the pace of interest rate increases as underlying inflation converges on the 2 percent…

Strategists say US-Japan yen intervention is built to fail

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's decision to join Japan in a rare coordinated intervention to support the yen — the first joint U.S.-Japan yen-buying operation since 1998 — is drawing skepticism from currency strategists who argue the effort cannot produce a…

Asian central banks turn to creative tools to defend currencies without draining reserves

Central banks across emerging Asia are broadening their currency defense playbooks, moving beyond traditional foreign-exchange intervention to preserve dwindling reserves as West Asia tensions, elevated oil prices, and higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates continue to weigh on the region's currencies.

European stocks post best week since June after U.S. jobs miss

European equity markets closed the week on a high note Friday, capping their strongest weekly performance since late June as a sharply disappointing U.S. employment report reshaped expectations for Federal Reserve monetary policy.

Japan reveals record single-day yen intervention of 6.28T yen

Japan's Ministry of Finance disclosed on Friday that authorities purchased 6.2787 trillion yen on April 30, marking the largest single-day yen-buying operation ever recorded. The data, released as part of a quarterly breakdown covering April through June, confirms the scale…

Yen gives back gains from historic US-Japan intervention

The Japanese yen continued to lose ground against the dollar on Thursday, drifting back toward 157.70 after last week's historic joint US-Japan intervention briefly pushed USD/JPY down to 155.20 on Monday. The currency pair has now retraced roughly two big…

Germany weighs Nagel nomination as ECB succession race narrows

The contest to lead the European Central Bank entered a new phase this week as the Netherlands officially endorsed former Dutch central bank chief Klaas Knot for the presidency, while Germany's government began coalition discussions about nominating Bundesbank President Joachim…

BofA sees yen jumping 6% after US-Japan intervention

The United States and Japan last week carried out a rare coordinated intervention in currency markets to arrest the yen's slide to 40-year lows, a move that has reshaped expectations across Asian foreign exchange markets and drawn in South Korea…

BOJ minutes show board debated more rate hikes at June meeting

The Bank of Japan released minutes from its June 15–16 monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, revealing that policymakers debated mounting price pressures even as they raised the policy rate to a 31-year high of 1%. The documents show a board…

Bessent says BOJ’s Ueda will ‘do what is best’ amid rate hike pressure

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he is confident Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will "do what is best" for Japan's economy, in remarks reported by NHK on Wednesday that markets widely interpreted as pressure for a near-term interest…

Korean won leads Asian FX gains after US-Japan yen intervention

The United States and Japan last week carried out their first coordinated yen-buying intervention since 2011, deploying tens of billions of dollars to arrest the Japanese currency's slide to 40-year lows and sending ripples across Asian foreign exchange markets.

BOJ says inflation, not bond tapering, drives Japan’s rising yields

The Bank of Japan said Tuesday that accelerating underlying inflation is the primary force behind Japan's rising long-term interest rates, pushing back against the notion that its ongoing bond purchase tapering program is destabilizing government debt markets. The assessment came…

Yen rally stalls near 157 as analysts doubt intervention’s staying power

The yen's dramatic rebound from 40-year lows is already losing momentum, with the currency settling around 157 per dollar on Monday after briefly touching 155.20 following last week's historic joint US-Japan intervention. Strategists now say the 155 level represents the…

US, Japan intervene to support yen as euro gains on ECB hike bets

The euro advanced against the Japanese yen on Monday, buoyed by expectations of further European Central Bank rate increases while the yen remained under pressure from longstanding concerns about Japan's fiscal position. The EUR/JPY pair traded around the 181 level…

US and Japan confirm first joint yen intervention in 15 years

Japan and the United States carried out a rare coordinated intervention in foreign exchange markets last week to arrest the yen's slide to 40-year lows, their first joint action to support the currency in 15 years. The operation lifted the…