The yen is surging

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Good morning!

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The Japanese yen is surging, getting as high as 100.22 per dollar around 6:30 a.m. ET.

The currency backtracked slightly by 7:43 a.m. ET, sitting up 1.2% for the day at 100.50 per dollar.

"Yet despite the gains in the yen, there did not appear to be any verbal intervention by Japanese officials," observed Marc Chandler, the global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note to clients.

"On the margins, this may be emboldening some participants, but there can be no doubt that officials are frustrated by the yen's strength."

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As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard:

  • The British pound is weaker by 0.5% at 1.2960 against the dollar, hitting another fresh 31-year low. The currency dipped as low as 1.2798 overnight.
  • The euro is weaker by 0.2% at 1.1057 against the dollar after several disappointing pieces of data. German factory orders came in 0.0% month-over-month for May, below expectations of a 1.0% rise. Separately, Spanish industrial production rose only by 1.0% year-over-year in May, below expectations of a 1.8% increase.
  • The Swedish krona is weaker by 0.3% at 8.5527 per dollar after the Riksbank left policy unchanged, as was expected. The bank also lowered growth and inflation forecasts, and noted that it plans to push rate hikes back.
  • The US dollar index is little changed at 96.18 ahead of several data points. The trade balance will cross the wires at 8:30 a.m. ET before Markit PMI and ISM nonmanufacturing are released at 9:45 a.m. ET and 10 a.m. ET, respectively. The latest FOMC minutes are due out at 2 p.m. ET.

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