The Japanese yen declined in Asian markets on Friday against a basket of major and minor currencies, moving away once again from the highest levels in two weeks against the US dollar, and heading toward incurring its first loss in the last three days, due to the release of bleak data on Japanese household spending during June.

This data, along with less aggressive remarks from political leaders in Japan, led to a decline in expectations of a Japanese interest rate hike in September, pending further comments and key statements from the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Price Overview

• Japanese yen exchange rate today: the dollar rose against the yen by 0.2% to ¥147.38, from today’s opening price at ¥147.11, and recorded the lowest level at ¥146.72.

• The yen had posted a gain of about 0.2% against the dollar at Thursday’s settlement, marking a second consecutive daily gain, approaching the highest level in two weeks at ¥146.62.

Bleak Data

Data released Friday in Tokyo showed that household spending in Japan rose by 1.3% year-on-year in June, below market expectations of a 2.8% increase, after recording a 4.7% rise in May.

The decline in consumer spending in Japan may pave the way for lower prices and a slowdown in the pace of inflation in the coming period. Undoubtedly, easing inflationary pressures on policymakers at the Bank of Japan reduces the chances of further Japanese interest rate hikes before the end of this year.

Japanese Comments

Ken Saito, a senior official in the ruling party, told Reuters that the Bank of Japan should be cautious about raising interest rates due to the expected impact of US tariffs on the fragile economy.

Japanese Interest Rates

• Following the above comments and data, the pricing of expectations for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point at the September meeting fell from 55% to 45%.

• Minutes from the June monetary policy meeting showed that some members of the Bank of Japan’s board said the central bank would consider resuming interest rate hikes if trade tensions eased.

• To reprice those expectations, investors are awaiting the release of more data on inflation, unemployment, and wage levels in Japan.

Corn futures climbed during Thursday trading on the Chicago Board of Trade, supported by improved export activity after the December contract held the key $4.00 level on Wednesday.

Contracts gained between 5 and 6.25 cents in mid-session, while the national average cash corn price on the CmdtyView platform rose by 5.75 cents to $3.6825 per bushel.

The US Department of Agriculture announced two private export sales: 106,680 metric tons of corn to Mexico and 105,000 metric tons to Guatemala, both scheduled for delivery in the 2025/2026 marketing year.

Export sales data showed 170,428 metric tons of old-crop corn sold, marking the second-lowest level of the season and falling short of expectations that ranged from 200,000 to 400,000 metric tons for the week ending July 31. However, new-crop sales exceeded forecasts of 1.3 to 2.5 million metric tons, reaching 3.16 million metric tons. This brought total sales for the 2025/2026 season to 11.777 million tons, the second-highest weekly level for this time of year since 2021/2022, which was driven by strong Chinese demand.

Meanwhile, Brazil exported 2.434 million metric tons of corn in July, down 31.51% from the same period last year, though still higher than June’s total. The decline was attributed to a slower second-crop harvest and the continued prioritization of soybean shipments in shipping schedules.

Corn

At the close, December corn futures rose 1.4% to $4.07 per bushel.

Soybeans

November soybean futures gained 1% to $9.93 per bushel.

Wheat

September wheat futures climbed 1.9% to $5.18 per bushel.

Ethereum has recently pulled back from the $3,900 level but is showing signs of resilience, as on-chain data reveals growing exchange outflows. This is typically seen as a bullish signal, suggesting that investors are withdrawing their ETH holdings with the intention of long-term storage.

Current price analysis indicates that as long as Ethereum holds above the $3,600 support zone, the bullish trend remains intact, with a near-term target around $4,000.

Ethereum’s underlying fundamentals also remain strong. Its Layer-2 ecosystem continues to expand, staking activity is on the rise, and institutional inflows are gradually increasing. Combined with technical patterns showing higher lows and confirmation from the Relative Strength Index (RSI), the overall outlook for Ethereum remains optimistic.

However, despite its strength, Ethereum is a well-established asset in the market. While its upside is real, it may be limited compared to smaller-cap altcoins. For investors seeking the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies of 2025, Ethereum is a solid long-term hold but may not offer the highest returns. This opens the door for other emerging assets to present more attractive short-term opportunities.

Meanwhile, President Trump announced late Wednesday the imposition of a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, with exemptions for companies manufacturing within the United States.

“We will impose very large tariffs on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said Wednesday. “But the good news for companies like Apple is: if you manufacture in the United States or are fully committed to doing so, you won’t face any tariffs.”

Ethereum 

As of 21:15 GMT, Ethereum surged 5% on CoinMarketCap to trade at $3,857.8.

The New Zealand dollar rose on Thursday against most major currencies following the release of economic data.

Government data published earlier today showed that New Zealand’s quarterly inflation expectations for Q3 2025 came in at 2.28%, slightly down from the previous reading of 2.29%.

As of 21:00 GMT, the New Zealand dollar climbed 0.5% against the US dollar to trade at 0.5959.

Australian Dollar

The Australian dollar also advanced against its US counterpart, rising 0.2% to 0.6518 as of 21:00 GMT.

US Dollar

The US dollar index was flat at 98.1 as of 20:44 GMT, after hitting a high of 98.4 and a low of 97.9 earlier in the session.

On the policy front, President Trump announced late Wednesday the imposition of a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, with an exemption for companies that "manufacture within the United States."

“We will impose very large tariffs on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said Wednesday. “But the good news for companies like Apple is: if you manufacture in the United States or commit without a doubt to manufacturing in the US, you won’t face any tariffs.”

Meanwhile, government data showed that seasonally adjusted initial jobless claims in the US rose to 226,000 for the week ending August 2, up by 7,000 from the previous week and above analyst expectations of 221,000.