Yen Hits Four-Decade Low, China's Manufacturing Activity Returns to Growth

Business and finance news from the Asia-Pacific.

The yen slid to its weakest level against the dollar since 1986, a milestone that will generate unease in Japan and put traders on high alert for authorities wading into the market. The currency depreciated 0.2% to touch 161.98 versus the greenback in New York trading overnight, breaching the 161.95 mark touched in July 2024 during an earlier campaign by Japan to shore up the exchange rate. The last time the yen traded at this level it was barreling in the opposite direction, midway through a massive and years-long rally that followed a currency accord engineered by the US. The world was a different place — Japan's asset bubble was still forming, the Soviet Union was cleaning up after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Top Gun had just launched Tom Cruise toward the pinnacle of Hollywood stardom. We speak to David Finnerty, Bloomberg's FX and Rates Strategist.

Plus -  China's factory activity improved more than expected in June, as booming exports offset cooling growth in the domestic economy.The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index climbed to 50.3, versus 50 in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 50.1. The non-manufacturing measure of activity in construction and services unexpectedly rose to 50.2 from 50.1 last month. Bloomberg's Yvonne Man and Avril Hong spoke to Helen Qiao, Chief Economist for Greater China at Bank of America Global Research.

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