FX.co ★ Japanese Yen Falls as PM Ishiba Steps Down

The yen weakened beyond the 148-per-dollar mark on Monday, undoing the previous session's gains following Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's announcement over the weekend of his impending resignation. Ishiba's decision came amidst growing internal discord within the ruling party and sustained pressure after his national election defeat late last year. This development coincided with Japan's struggles to secure a trade agreement with the United States, as it seeks to protect its crucial automotive industry from significant tariffs. In parallel, Japan's GDP growth for the second quarter was revised upward on both an annualized and quarterly basis, propelled by strong export performance and stable growth in private consumption. These robust figures support a hawkish monetary policy stance from the Bank of Japan, as Governor Kazuo Ueda emphasized last week that interest rate hikes remain plausible if the economic outlook remains stable.