adminto further loosen monetary policy to support the economy, while the prospect of more cheap money from Tokyo helped boost shares elsewhere in Asia.
Brent crude oil hovered below a two-and-a-half-year high it struck amid war in Libya and unrest in the Middle East.
Gold sat just below its record as China’s fourth rate rise since October and oil prices fuelled concerns about inflation that helped propel the precious metal, traditionally a hedge against rising prices as well as a safe haven investment.
European shares were seen edging up, extending a rally that has taken them to their highest in nearly four weeks. Financial spread betters called the major European indexes to open 0,2-0,3 percent higher, while S&P 500 index futures pointed to modest gains on Wall Street after a flat finish on Tuesday.
The yen has been on a downward trend since a rare joint intervention by leading central banks to weaken it last month revived interest in the yen “carry trade” – a strategy of using cheap yen loans to fund higher yielding investments.
“The yen is weakening due to expectations for interest rates to rise abroad,” said Tsutomu Soma, senior manager at Okasan Securities’ foreign securities department in Tokyo.
“In countries other than Japan, there are moves towards raising interest rates or exiting from extreme monetary easing . . . But in Japan, a massive amount of funds have been pumped into the money market as an emergency measure.” – Reuters.
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- July 31, 2026
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