World shares follow Wall Street higher, while the Japanese yen hits a
39-year low against the dollar
[June 30, 2026] By
CHAN HO-HIM and ELAINE KURTENBACH
HONG KONG (AP) — Markets in Europe and Asia were mostly higher on
Tuesday, tracking Wall Street gains, while the Japanese yen was trading
near a 40-year low against the U.S. dollar.
U.S. futures were little changed.
In Germany, the DAX climbed 0.8% to 24,810.48 while the CAC 40 in Paris
edged 0.1% higher to 8,374.80. Britain's FTSE 100 picked up 0.4% to
10,524.33.
Shares in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan rebounded from earlier losses
spurred by selling of technology companies due to concerns over the
sustainability of the boom in artificial intelligence.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was up 0.9% to 70,062.32. Chip equipment maker Tokyo
Electron jumped 3.3%. SoftBank Group, an investment holding company that
invests in OpenAI, was up 1.2%.
South Korea’s Kospi index, which has performed strongly during the
global AI frenzy due to growing demand for memory chips from major
chipmakers like SK Hynix, gained 1% to 8,476.48.
Shares of Samsung Electronics rose 3.4% and those of SK Hynix rose 0.8%
after the two companies and the government jointly announced plans
Monday for over $500 billion of investments in the country’s chipmaking
and AI.
Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.6% to 22,881.02 and the
Shanghai Composite index rose 0.5% to 4,094.40. Taiwan's Taiex picked up
2.5%.
China reported its factory activity slightly picked up pace in June,
mainly due to exports and demand generated by expanding use of AI. The
survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics said the
manufacturing purchasing managers index, or PMI, expanded to 50.3 in
June from 50 in May. That’s better than had been expected.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.5% to 8,778.70, while India’s Sensex
slipped 0.3%.
The dollar rose to nearly 162.42 yen early Tuesday in Tokyo, its highest
level since late 1986, and was trading at 162.40 yen by late afternoon.
The yen's prolonged slump against the dollar, largely due to a growing
gap between interest rates in the U.S. and Japan, has spurred
speculation that Tokyo might intervene to prop up the currency. However,
Japan’s finance minister said only that the government was ready to
“respond appropriately whenever necessary.”
Earlier interventions appeared only to slow the dollar's rise against
the yen.
The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates higher for longer
due to inflationary pressures partly driven by higher oil and gas prices
resulting from the Iran war. Japan's central bank is moving very
gradually to raise interest rates from near zero, having increased its
key rate to 1% last month, its highest level in more than 30 years.
[to top of second column] |
An electronic board shows Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index,
bottom, and exchange rate of the Japanese yen against the U.S.
dollar in Tokyo Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (Kenichiro Kojima/Kyodo News
via AP)
 The dollar to yen rate “has spiked
above 162 as everyone is holding their breath to see when Japanese
officials intervene,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya of Swissquote said in a
commentary. “Intervening now would change nothing about the
underlying market direction, but would cost dearly. Unless we see an
aggressive sell-off in the yen, the Japanese authorities seem
willing to remain on the sidelines.”
The euro fell to $1.1409 from $1.1422.
U.S. futures edged higher.
On Monday, Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 added 1.2%. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average climbed 0.6%, and the Nasdaq composite gained
2.1%.
High tech companies led gains as Intel gained 2.7% and Micron
Technology climbed 1.1%. Nvidia rose 1.3% and AMD, or Advanced Micro
Devices, was 3.4% higher.
Oil prices fell modestly early Tuesday as traders monitored
developments in negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on ending
their four-month war.
Crude prices have stabilized following attacks across the Persian
Gulf over the weekend after the United States and Iran separately
announced they will send delegations to Qatar this week, though
Tehran insisted it has not agreed to meet with the United States “at
any level.”
Brent crude, the international standard, fell 0.7% to $73.40 a
barrel. It was trading near $72 per barrel before the war began to
disrupt transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.
Benchmark U.S. crude declined 0.8% to $70.22 a barrel.
The hope is that an end to the war with Iran will restore full
access to the strait, allowing tankers to exit the Persian Gulf and
deliver crude to customers worldwide. That would help lower the
price of oil, whose jumps because of the war have sent a punishing
wave of inflation around the world.
___
Kurtenbach contributed from Bangkok.
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