Against the US dollar, the yen is weaker by 0.2% at 117.374 as of 8:08 a.m. ET. Data released earlier showed that consumer prices slumped 0.6% year-over-year in Tokyo, making for the biggest drop since February 2013, and showing that Japan's economy still lacks inflation. Employment data were also released, showing that the jobless rate ticked up to 3.1%.
Here's the rest of the scoreboard:
- The dollar is hovering near its best level in 14 years. The US Dollar Index is up 0.17% to 103.12. "As skeleton teams return to the trading desks in New York, the US dollar is largely where they left it at the end last week," wrote Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note. "Japanese markets were open yesterday, while UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Canadian markets are still closed today."
- The South African rand is among the best performers in emerging markets. The rand is stronger by 0.42% at 13.952 per dollar.
- Russia's ruble is also stronger, up by 0.07% to 60.7300 against the dollar. West Texas Intermediate crude oil was little changed, up 0.28% at $53.17 per barrel.
- Bitcoin is at a three-year high. The cryptocurrency is up by 1.6% at $912.