The Japanese yen rose in Asian trading on Monday against a basket of major and minor currencies, attempting to recover from a three-week low against the US dollar and heading toward its first gain in the past three sessions, supported by buying activity from lower levels.

The yen also benefited from a slowdown in the US dollar and a sharp decline in global oil prices, amid growing optimism that the United States and Iran are nearing a peace agreement.

At the same time, easing inflationary pressures on policymakers at the Bank of Japan reduced expectations for an interest rate hike in June, as investors await additional economic data from the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Price Overview

• Japanese yen exchange rate today:

The dollar fell against the yen by around 0.3% to 158.75 yen, compared to Friday’s closing level of 159.18 yen. The pair recorded an intraday high of 158.96 yen.

• The yen ended Friday down around 0.2% against the dollar, marking its second consecutive daily loss, after touching a three-week low of 159.34 yen during the previous session.

• Last week, the yen lost 0.3% against the dollar, recording a second straight weekly decline amid continued inflation data pointing to easing price pressures on the Japanese central bank.

US Dollar

The US Dollar Index fell around 0.4% on Monday, pulling back from a six-week high of 99.52 points and heading toward its first loss in the past three sessions, reflecting broad weakness in the US currency against a basket of global currencies.

Beyond profit-taking activity, the dollar weakened as market risk appetite improved, driven by growing hopes that the United States and Iran are close to reaching a peace agreement that could end the war in the Middle East.

Global Oil Prices

Oil prices dropped by more than 6% at the start of the week, reaching their lowest levels in three weeks, as fears over supply disruptions from the Arabian Gulf eased amid rising expectations that the Strait of Hormuz could soon reopen to oil tankers.

Latest Developments in the Iran War

• The United States and Iran are reportedly nearing a final agreement framework to end the war in the Middle East.

• Trump said that “a large part” of the draft agreement had already been negotiated, though not fully finalized, adding that “time is on Washington’s side” to secure a “good and suitable” deal.

• Sources said the agreement framework includes extending the ceasefire for 60 days, giving negotiators time to finalize the detailed terms required to permanently end the conflict.

• The agreement also reportedly includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, ending the US naval blockade on Iranian ports, and allowing Iran to sell oil under specific exemptions.

• Sources added that several contentious issues remain unresolved, including oversight of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s complete surrender of highly enriched uranium, and the release of frozen Iranian assets.

• US officials said the agreement would not be signed on Monday and that final approvals could still take several days.

• Tasnim News Agency warned that the draft agreement could collapse due to disagreements over frozen Iranian assets.

Japanese Interest Rates

• Amid falling oil prices and slowing inflationary pressures, market pricing for a quarter-point interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan at its June meeting declined from 70% to 55%.

• Investors are now awaiting additional Japanese data on inflation, unemployment, and wages to reassess those expectations.

Estimates from Rystad Energy suggest that digitalization and artificial intelligence technologies could generate nearly $500 billion in cumulative value for oil and gas exploration and production companies between 2026 and 2030.

This value is expected to be achieved through:

• Lower costs by improving operational efficiency

• Higher production through increased uptime and enhanced recovery rates

• Shorter project development timelines

Cost savings and production growth are expected to be the two largest sources of value through 2030, with both contributing at similar levels.

Exploration and production companies currently investing in digitalization and AI are expected to generate an additional $80 billion annually by 2030 compared to 2025 levels.

Results are already beginning to emerge across the sector.

ADNOC announced that AI-driven initiatives generated $500 million in value during 2023, while allocating $1.5 billion to digital spending with the goal of achieving $1 billion annually in added value.

Meanwhile, Equinor achieved nearly $200 million in AI-related savings between 2021 and 2024, before recording another $130 million during 2025 alone.

The report noted that digital value creation follows an accelerating cumulative curve as adoption expands and organizational capabilities mature within companies.

The estimated $500 billion opportunity is distributed across four main categories:

• Asset development

• Operations and maintenance

• Exploration and reservoir development

• Drilling, wells, and production

Digital maturity levels vary across these segments. Operations and maintenance currently show the fastest adoption pace, particularly through predictive maintenance and remote operations, which have reduced costs by double-digit percentages at some major companies.

Subsurface and reservoir-related activities are viewed as having the largest untapped potential, especially in boosting production volumes and lowering drilling costs. Some companies have already reduced seismic data interpretation times from several months to roughly 10 days.

The report also stated that artificial intelligence does not necessarily raise the performance ceiling for top-performing companies, but instead helps the broader industry move closer to the standards achieved by leading firms.

In the US shale sector, major producers are already approaching the physical limits of drilling efficiency. As a result, the greatest benefit now lies in improving average well performance. The study estimates potential improvements of around 10% on average across US onshore fields, while savings in some complex deepwater projects could exceed 50%, although a more realistic range is estimated between 15% and 20%.

This comes as exploration and production companies spent nearly $25 billion on AI tools and digital solutions last year. Forecasts suggest that the market for these services will grow by more than $10 billion by 2030, exceeding $35 billion annually before approaching $50 billion by 2035.

The report argues that the main obstacle to achieving these gains is not a lack of technology, but the difficulty of implementing it at scale. As a result, companies are increasingly forming partnerships with technology providers and oilfield service firms to reduce complexity and accelerate integration between different systems and equipment.

It also noted that most current AI applications in the oil industry rely on traditional machine learning models that require years of training data and are often difficult to transfer from one field to another without significant redevelopment.

However, newer technologies such as “agentic AI” — capable of performing tasks in a semi-autonomous manner — could accelerate digital transformation in the future by reducing gaps between departments and connecting different types of data without requiring full retraining.

Under an optimistic scenario, the annual value generated by digital initiatives could rise to $150 billion by 2030, with the potential to exceed $300 billion annually by 2035, compared to the base-case estimate of only $178 billion in 2035.

Achieving this scenario would also require increasing spending on digital solutions to $50 billion annually by 2030, before rising to nearly $80 billion by 2035.

The report concluded by noting that while artificial intelligence accelerates gains inside digitally mature organizations, it does not necessarily shorten the digital transformation journey itself.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its first intraday record high since the outbreak of the war between the United States and Iran, supported by the artificial intelligence-driven rally and growing investor optimism regarding negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.

The benchmark industrial index climbed to an intraday record of 50,712.24 points before trading around 0.6% higher.

The move pushed the index above its previous peak of 50,512.79 recorded on February 10, after it had already reclaimed the 50,000-point level earlier this week.

The Dow Jones had officially entered correction territory during March after closing more than 10% below its record highs amid concerns over the global economic consequences of the Iran war, which triggered a broad selloff on Wall Street.

Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley Wealth, said: “The closer we get to an exit from this war, the more confidence markets gain, especially after a very strong earnings season and upgraded expectations for the rest of the year.”

The AI-driven boom, together with the fragile ceasefire in the Middle East, helped markets recover from March losses, with both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite reaching new record highs in mid-April.

However, the Dow Jones, which includes a larger weighting of industrial companies, lagged somewhat behind the rally as technology stocks led market gains.

The Dow Jones — which includes 30 companies and was first established in 1896 — is a price-weighted index, unlike other indices that are weighted by market capitalization, making it less sensitive to surges in large technology stocks.

Among the strongest contributors to the index’s performance this quarter were shares of Cisco Systems, Amazon, and Nvidia, especially after Nvidia’s sales guidance exceeded market expectations this week.

Meanwhile, shares of Chevron, McDonald's, and Nike were among the weakest performers during the same period.

Strong first-quarter earnings from US companies also reassured investors despite geopolitical tensions, as forecasts for US corporate earnings over the next 12 months have risen by more than 10% since the beginning of the year, according to data from LSEG Datastream.

Bitcoin opened trading on Friday, May 22, 2026, at $77,546.53, up slightly by 0.1% compared to Thursday’s opening price, before easing to $77,288.79 by 7:55 a.m. Eastern Time.

Meanwhile, Ethereum opened trading at $2,131.71, rising 0.2% from Thursday’s opening level, before slipping to $2,126.43 by the same time.

Despite both cryptocurrencies trading lower compared to last week, they have moved within a narrow range since the start of the week.

Comparing Monday’s opening prices with today’s levels, Bitcoin has traded within a range of no more than $132, while Ethereum’s movement has been limited to just around $2.

Investors are waiting to see whether clearer signs of progress will emerge in peace efforts between the United States and Iran later today or over the weekend, as both sides continue to maintain their positions.

The United States continues insisting on the removal of enriched uranium from Iran, while Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, insists that enriched uranium must remain inside the country.

Current Bitcoin Prices

Bitcoin’s opening price on Friday morning rose 0.1% compared to Thursday’s opening. Performance versus previous periods was as follows:

• One week ago: down 4.3%

• One month ago: up 1.6%

• One year ago: down 29.3%

Bitcoin recorded its all-time high at $126,198.07 on October 6, 2025, while its all-time low was $0.04865 on July 14, 2010.

Current Ethereum Prices

Ethereum’s opening price rose 0.2% compared to Thursday’s opening. Performance relative to previous periods was as follows:

• One week ago: down 6.5%

• One month ago: down 8.4%

• One year ago: down 16.5%

Ethereum recorded its all-time high at $4,953.73 on August 24, 2025, while its all-time low was $0.4209 on October 21, 2015.