EUR/USD
1.15953
-0.090%
Gold
4491.07
0.204%
Oil
101.336
-1.924%
USD/JPY
159.040
-0.013%
GBP/USD
1.33908
-0.025%
GBP/JPY
212.973
-0.032%
Real-time News
May 20th - For a long time, sharp fluctuations in the bond market have been a warning sign of economic hardship. For example, the recent surge in global yields, fueled by concerns that Middle East conflict would lead to an inflationary spiral, is a prime example. However, as part of its aggressive monetary easing program, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) purchased a large amount of government bonds, causing the Japanese bond market to lose this function. But since the central bank began tapering its bond purchases in 2024, market function has been gradually recovering. A recent BOJ survey captured this shift, measuring market participants views on the functioning of the Japanese bond market. The survey results, released Wednesday, showed a diffusion index improving from -26 in February to -16. Shota Ryu, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ, said the recent surge in Japanese bond yields indicates a loss of confidence in both government and BOJ policies, a shift that could lead to further yen depreciation. If this occurs, there is a risk of a vicious cycle where a weaker yen triggers inflation concerns, further pushing up bond yields. He stated, "A weaker yen is highly likely to further fuel inflation expectations, thereby prompting yields to rise further."Market news: The Iraqi Prime Minister has instructed that efforts be made to increase oil exports and diversify export channels.May 20th - In the first four months of the year, the postal industry handled a total of 70.16 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 4.1%. Among these, express delivery volume reached 64.57 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%. By business type, in the first four months, intra-city express delivery volume reached 4.51 billion parcels, a year-on-year decrease of 9.1%; inter-city express delivery volume reached 58.68 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 6.4%; and international/Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan express delivery volume reached 1.38 billion parcels, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%.On May 20th, the National Bureau of Statistics released unemployment data by age group for April 2026. In April, the national urban surveyed unemployment rate was 5.2%, the unemployment rate for the urban labor force aged 16-24 was 16.3%, the unemployment rate for the urban labor force aged 25-29 was 7.4%, and the unemployment rate for the urban labor force aged 30-59 was 4.2%.Hungarian Prime Minister Majol: For a strong Europe, we need a strong Central European competitiveness.
