The yen is on fire - here's what's happening in FX

Good morning!

The Japanese yen is on fire after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will delay the sales tax hike that was planned for 2017 until October 2019.

Additionally, he said he will announce a new stimulus package in the fall.

The yen is stronger by 1.3% at 109.24 per dollar as of 7:49 a.m. ET.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard:

• The People's Bank of China fixed the Chinese yuan at its lowest level since 2011. The PBOC set the midpoint rate at 6.5889 per dollar. Wednesday's fix was the third straight at a five-year low, and comes as Chinese manufacturing data showed more evidence the economy hasn't yet stabilized.
• The South Korean won ended weaker by 0.1% at 1193.10 per dollar after South Korean exports - aka the world's economic canary in the coal mine - fell 6% in May. Although that drop was an improvement from April's 11.2% drop, it was significantly worse than the 0.4% drop economists were expecting.
• The euro is stronger by 0.3% at 1.1162 against the dollar after German, Italian, and Spanish manufacturing PMI came in below economists' expectations.
• The Australian dollar is up 0.4% at .7266 after the latest GDP reading showed that the country's economy expanded by 3.1% in the first quarter compared to the previous year - the strongest pace since the third quarter of 2012.
• The British pound is down 0.3% at 1.4438 even though manufacturing PMI surprised on the upside. The latest reading came in at 50.1, above economists' expectations of 49.6.
• The US dollar is weaker by 0.4% at 95.52 ahead of April's ISM manufacturing, construction spending, and auto sales data. Plus, the Fed will release its Beige Book later in the afternoon.

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