The Japanese yen weakened in Asian trading on Thursday against a basket of major and minor currencies, extending its losses for the second consecutive session against the US dollar following the Bank of Japan’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged for the sixth straight meeting.

Despite holding rates steady, the central bank reiterated its readiness to raise rates in the future if economic indicators evolve in line with its projections. Investors are now awaiting the press conference by BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda for further clues on the likelihood of a rate hike in December.

Price Overview

• USD/JPY rose about 0.3% to 153.16 yen, up from the day’s opening at 152.72 yen, after hitting a low of 152.16 yen.

• The yen closed Wednesday down 0.7% against the dollar, resuming losses after a one-day pause — its first in eight sessions — pressured by the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting.

Bank of Japan

As widely expected, the Bank of Japan decided Thursday to make no changes to its current monetary policy tools, maintaining the benchmark rate at 0.50% — the highest since 2008 — for the sixth consecutive meeting.

The decision was backed by seven of the bank’s nine board members, while two voted in favor of raising rates to 0.75%, as they did in the previous meeting. This division highlights growing internal pressure to begin normalizing monetary policy.

The BOJ said it remains prepared to gradually raise borrowing costs if economic and financial indicators improve as anticipated.

In its quarterly report, the central bank upgraded its growth outlook for the current fiscal year and raised its inflation forecast for fiscal 2026, expecting core inflation to exceed 2% in the second half of its projection period through March 2027.

Interest Rate Outlook

• Following the meeting, market pricing for a possible 25-basis-point rate hike by the BOJ in December held steady around 50%.

• Investors are watching upcoming data on inflation, unemployment, and wage growth in Japan for further direction.

Kazuo Ueda’s Remarks

Governor Kazuo Ueda is scheduled to speak later today on the outcome of the policy meeting, with markets expecting his comments to offer stronger signals regarding the timeline for policy normalization and rate hikes this year.

Analyst Commentary

• Carol Kong, currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said before the BOJ decision: “We know the Bank of Japan tends to be highly sensitive to broader economic policy shifts.”

• She added: “Given the recent election of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration and its plans for a new economic package, I believe the BOJ will remain cautious in the very near term.”

Nvidia achieved a historic milestone on Wednesday, becoming the first company in the world to reach a $5 trillion market capitalization, propelled by a powerful rally that has cemented its position at the center of the global artificial intelligence revolution.

The achievement marks the company’s rapid evolution from a specialized graphics chip designer into the backbone of the AI industry — turning CEO Jensen Huang into a Silicon Valley icon and making Nvidia’s advanced chips a focal point of the tech rivalry between the US and China.

Since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, Nvidia’s stock has surged more than twelvefold, fueling record highs in the S&P 500 and reviving debate over whether inflated tech valuations could lead to a new financial bubble.

The milestone comes just three months after Nvidia crossed the $4 trillion mark, lifting its market value to roughly half that of the entire European Stoxx 600 index — and surpassing the total capitalization of the global cryptocurrency market.

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, which holds shares in Nvidia, said: “Reaching a $5 trillion market cap isn’t just symbolic — it’s a clear statement that Nvidia has evolved from a chipmaker into a creator of an entire industry.”

He added: “The market still underestimates the scale of Nvidia’s opportunity. It remains one of the best ways to invest in the AI wave.”

Nvidia’s shares, based in Santa Clara, California, rose 4.6% on Wednesday following a series of announcements reinforcing its dominance in AI.

On Tuesday, CEO Jensen Huang revealed $500 billion in new chip orders and announced plans to build seven supercomputers for the US government.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is expected to discuss Nvidia’s “Blackwell” AI chip with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, as the component has become a flashpoint in the ongoing technology export dispute between Washington and Beijing.

Surging shares boost Huang’s fortune

At current prices, Huang’s stake in Nvidia is valued at about $179.2 billion, according to regulatory filings and Reuters calculations, making him the world’s eighth-richest person, per Forbes.

Born in Taiwan and raised in the US from age nine, Huang has led the company since co-founding it in 1993. Under his leadership, Nvidia’s H100 and Blackwell processors have become the backbone of large language models powering tools like ChatGPT and Elon Musk’s xAI ventures.

While Nvidia remains the clear leader in AI, other tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft have also surpassed $4 trillion in market capitalization in recent months.

Analysts say the rally reflects strong investor confidence in sustained AI spending, though some warn that current valuations may not be sustainable.

Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, cautioned: “The current AI expansion is driven by a handful of dominant players financing each other to expand capacity. The moment investors start demanding cash returns instead of promises of growth, the cycle could abruptly stop.”

Tech megacaps such as Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft now dominate the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100, giving them outsized influence over global markets. Nvidia is scheduled to report its quarterly earnings on November 19.

Nvidia as a geopolitical bargaining chip

The company’s dominance in chipmaking has drawn increased regulatory scrutiny worldwide, as US export restrictions on advanced semiconductors make Nvidia a central instrument in Washington’s strategy to curb China’s access to AI technology.

Bob O’Donnell of TECHnalysis Research said, “Nvidia has done a remarkable job crafting its narrative in Washington to gain political support. It’s touching on all the hottest, most strategic tech issues of the day.”

At its developers’ conference on Tuesday, Huang balanced commercial announcements with geopolitical messaging — praising Trump’s “America First” policy for accelerating domestic tech investment, while warning that cutting China off from Nvidia’s ecosystem could exclude half of the world’s AI developers.

Despite rising competition from AMD and several well-funded startups, Nvidia remains the preferred and dominant supplier in high-performance computing.

Nvidia’s vision for the AI era

The company announced plans to release a blueprint for building massive “gigascale” data centers — dubbed “AI factories” — using its chips and software, a concept being heavily invested in by Oracle, Microsoft, and Google.

Nvidia said its new AI research hub in Virginia will employ this architecture, while it also unveiled partnerships with T-Mobile and Nokia to develop AI-driven 6G telecom towers using its new “Aerial RAN Computer.”

The technology aims to deliver faster, more robust wireless connectivity for smartphones, smart devices, and eventually robotics.

Huang declared: “Most of today’s wireless technologies depend on foreign components — that must change. We have a real opportunity to lead this shift with 6G.”

Nvidia is also working with Uber to help produce 100,000 self-driving cars by 2027 using its DriveOS autonomous platform, enabling broader adoption of robotaxis across the US.

It is partnering with Palantir to provide AI computing capabilities for enterprise automation, while Lowe’s will use Nvidia’s systems to digitally replicate its global supply chain to identify efficiency gains.

In collaboration with Siemens, Nvidia unveiled digital-twin technology for robotic factories, allowing companies to design and operate digital replicas of real-world manufacturing environments — a step expected to address labor shortages in industrial production.

Additionally, Nvidia will help the US Department of Energy build seven new quantum supercomputers using its AI chips to advance scientific research.

Describing AI as “the next industrial revolution,” Nvidia said global adoption remains in its early stages — a view echoed by MIT researchers, who noted that most companies implementing AI tools have yet to see meaningful returns.

A pillar of America’s tech leadership drive

Hosting its event in Washington was a strategic choice. Jensen Huang has become a key figure in President Trump’s campaign to make the US the global leader in artificial intelligence — a theme that dominated the conference’s keynote, which featured a special entrance for members of Congress.

Huang said: “The first thing President Trump asked me to do was bring manufacturing back to America — it’s vital for national security.”

He confirmed that Nvidia’s Blackwell AI chips are now in full-scale production in Arizona, though final assembly still occurs abroad.

Huang is expected to meet President Trump in South Korea this week during the APEC summit.

In August, Nvidia asked the White House for clarification on resuming sales of advanced chips to China after agreeing earlier this year to remit 15% of its Chinese revenues to the US government.

Huang revealed Tuesday that Washington has approved resumed sales but claimed that Beijing is now delaying them. He concluded his keynote with a nod to Trump’s slogan: “Thank you all for helping make America great again.”

Oil prices rose on Wednesday, supported by a sharp drop in US crude inventories and growing optimism ahead of the highly anticipated trade summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Markets were buoyed by hopes of a breakthrough in trade relations between Washington and Beijing, as the two leaders are scheduled to meet in a bilateral summit in South Korea on Thursday.

The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that crude inventories fell by 6.9 million barrels to 416.0 million barrels last week, far exceeding market expectations of a 0.9 million-barrel decline.

Gasoline stocks dropped by 5.9 million barrels to 210.7 million barrels, while distillate inventories — which include heating oil and diesel — declined by 3.4 million barrels to 112.2 million barrels.

At the close of trading, Brent crude futures for December delivery rose by 0.81%, or 52 cents, to settle at $64.92 per barrel.

Meanwhile, US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for December delivery gained 0.55%, or 33 cents, to close at $60.48 per barrel.

The Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday its decision to cut the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points, from 4.25% to 4.00%, in a move that was largely in line with analysts’ expectations.