USD/JPY has fallen to its weakest in 40 years, putting traders on alert for Japanese authorities’ next “line.” After the pair broke 162, market participants increasingly view 163 and above as the next key threshold; strategists say the Japanese finance ministry may tolerate a weaker yen more than during 2024’s intervention. Market positioning and this week’s US nonfarm payrolls could push the yen quickly toward those levels. Nikko Securities senior FX and rates strategist Takato Maruyama said 16

Two explosions struck outside the headquarters of Ecuador's mining regulator in northern Quito at about 03:00 local time on June 29, injuring one security guard and damaging the regulator's offices and nearby buildings, the Ecuadorian National Police said. Police said a vehicle arrived before the blasts and two packages were left at the scene prior to the explosions.

Former Bank of Japan executive Kenzo Yamamoto said the next BOJ rate increase is likely to occur before December, sooner than the December move most economists expect. He pointed to a BOJ measure of potential inflation excluding fresh food and state aid that has averaged about 3% over the past four years, above the 2% target. By contrast, Japan’s core CPI excluding only fresh food was 1.4% in May, a level Yamamoto attributed largely to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cost-of-living relief measures; the BOJ says price trends remain slightly below 2%. Yamamoto added he would be concerned if the BOJ treated the potential-inflation measure as unreflective of price trends and said policy should shift toward reining in inflation.