The yen rose in Asian trade on Thursday on track for the eighth daily profit in a row against the dollar, hitting a two-week high on strong haven demand amid concerns about US financial stability.

The rise also comes after bullish remarks by the Bank of Japan Deputy Governor this week, which boosted the odds of a BOJ rate hike this year.

The Price

The USD/JPY price fell 0.35% today to 143.14 yen per dollar, the lowest since May 7, with a session-high at 144.40.

The yen rose 0.6% on Wednesday against the dollar, marking the seventh profit in a row, the longest such streak of daily gains since April 2021 on haven demand.

US Fiscal Developments

US President Donald Trump convened with his Republican allies in the House of Representatives but failed to convince them to support his tax reform bill, with hawks insisting the bill doesn’t cut spending far enough.

Weak demand on a recent US 20-year treasury note auction, and the “Sell America” mindset, also piled up on the dollar and Wall Street.

The markets are already on edge after Moody’s decision to cut the US credit rating by one notch.

Exchange Rate

Japan’s finance minister Katsunubo Kato and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent both agreed that the current USD/JPY forex rate reflects fundamental factors.

The both reasserted both countries’ commitment to maintain an exchange rate decided by market forces.

Japanese Rates

Bank of Japan Deputy Governor Shinichi Uchida said the bank will continue to raise interest rates if the economy recovers from the negative impact of US tariffs, however he still cautioned that the economic outlook remains highly uncertain.

During a Diet session, Uchida said that main inflation will likely settle near the bank’s 2% target as long as local economic activities pick up. 

Following the remarks, the odds of a BOJ rate hike in June rose from 25% to 30%.

Now traders await important Japanese data on inflation, unemployment, and wages to gather more clues.

US stock indices fell on Wednesday and expanded the losses after a weak treasury note auction.

Stocks are pressured by higher US treasury yields, which could hurt the prices of most other investments, amid concerns about ongoing tax cut plans in Washington, which would add trillions of dollars to the US debt pile.

US 30-year treasury yields rose to 5.08%, the highest since October 2023, while 10-year yield reached 4.59%.

At the close, Dow Jones fell 1.9%, or 817 points to 41,860 points, with a session-low at 41,785 points.

S&P 500 fell 1.6%, or 96 points to 5844 points, with a session-low at 5831 points.

NASDAQ slid 1.4%, or 270 points to 18,872 points, with a session-low at 18,799 points.

Ethereum rose mildly on Wednesday on profit-taking as bitcoin reached a record high, before pulling other cryptocurrencies down with him.

Bitcoin price advanced on Wednesday and hit a fresh record high just above $109,000, reflecting strong demand.

According to CoinDesk data, the price scaled past the previous record high at $109,224 scaled on the day of Trump's inauguration in January.

It later petered out to $106,500 but remained over 4% higher today and nearly 14% higher so far in 2025.

As for ethereum, the second most valuable cryptocurrency, it rose 2.2% to $2530, while Ripple climbed 1.2% to $2.36.

Recent supportive regulatory measures by the Trump administration boosted prices, with the Senate proposing the Stablecoins bill to regulate cryptocurrencies linked to the dollar.

Even though the bill only focuses on Stablecoins, it gave a big boost to the entire crypto market.

Separately, Texas lawmakers approved a law establishing a crypto strategic reserve for the state, including bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Pepperstone's analyst Chris Weston said the crypto market and bitcoin in particular looks to be heading very clearly upwards towards fresh record highs.

Ethereum

On trading, ethereum rose 0.1% on Coinmarketcap as of 20:34 GMT to $2492.3.

Sterling rose on Wednesday after data showed UK inflation rose faster than expected last month.

UK consumer prices rose 3.5% y/y in April, passing estimates of a 3.3% rise.

On trading, the GBP/USD pair rose 0.3% as of 20:20 GMT to $1.3427.

Aussie

The Australian dollar rose 0.2% against its US counterpart as of 20:20 GMT to $0.644.

US Dollar

The dollar index fell 0.6% as of 20:02 GMT to 99.5, with a session-high at 99.9, and a low at 99.3.

Reports indicate that Trump is frustrated with the slow progress of the bill and urged Republican lawmakers to back off some of their demands and pass the bill.

Concerns about the US budget and debt sent 30-year treaury yields above 5% once more today while 10-year yields rerurned above 4.5%.

Otherwise, the US-China dispute resurfaced on chips after just two weeks of their agreement to pause most tariffs for 90 days, with China warning that Trump's attack on Huawei chips hurt the outcome of the Geneva talks.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huwang said the US controls on AI chip exports failed and helped bolster the development of Chinese alternatives, leading to billions of dollars of lost sales for US companies.