The yen was the day’s dominant force. USD/JPY fell 2.31% to 159.53, dragging every major yen cross lower and topping the session’s loser board.
At the same time, US tech roared back β the Nasdaq 100 climbed 3.0% to 28,200.68, leading a broad equity advance.
Currencies
JPY strength was relentless. CAD/JPY dropped 2.17%, SGD/JPY fell 1.88%, EUR/JPY lost 1.83% and GBP/JPY slid 1.62% β the four steepest FX declines after USD/JPY.
The dollar softened elsewhere too. EUR/USD rose 0.49% to 1.15218, GBP/USD added 0.71% to 1.346, and the antipodeans firmed, with NZD/USD up 1.16% and AUD/USD up 0.93%.
USD/CHF fell 1.12% and USD/SEK dropped 1.48%, while USD/ZAR shed 1.58% β a consistent picture of a weaker greenback across the board.
Equities
The Nikkei 225 led index gains, up 3.47% to 63,586.72, though it remains 8.59% lower on the month.
Europe was firmly green: the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 2.1%, the IBEX 35 gained 2.04% and the CAC 40 added 1.32%. In the US, the S&P 500 rose 1.29% to 7,442.47 and the Dow gained 0.96%.
Metals & Crypto
The precious complex favored the industrials. Palladium jumped 3.69% to 1,318.33 and platinum rose 2.42% to 1,660.62, both extending weekly gains. Silver added 1.38% to 58.98, while gold edged up 0.44% to 4,102.78.
Crypto’s standout was Uniswap, up 11.07% to 4.4295 and now 20.79% higher on the week. Cardano rose 5.19% and BNB gained 3.42%, while Bitcoin firmed 1.24% to 64,683.36 and Ethereum lagged at +0.63%.
Crude was the session’s soft spot β US crude slipped 0.41% to 82.81 and Brent fell 1.18% to 86.54, both down more than 6.5% on the week despite hefty monthly gains.
What to watch: the yen remains the clearest cross-market theme, with every major JPY pair finishing lower.
