Japan's ruling party is discussing a partial pullback of gasoline price support beginning in December, as the monthly expense grows too heavy to maintain, insiders say, a step that would push fuel costs higher into the new year.
UK retail sales fell 0.4% month-on-month in September, missing expectations for a 0.1% decline, after a revised 0.7% rise in August, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported. GBP/USD edged lower on the data.
Brent crude climbed to $114.00 a barrel and WTI crude rose to $100.40, as Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and a Libyan pipeline shutdown fuelled a sharp weekly rally in oil prices.
USD/JPY dropped nearly 0.65% on Thursday to around 157, its lowest since September 30, as fears over AI-related investment hit global equities and lifted demand for the Japanese yen.
The US 10-year Treasury yield fell about 13.5 basis points, dipping under the 5% mark, as investors sought shelter from renewed stress in AI-linked credit and stock markets.
President Donald Trump has triggered Section 303 of the Defense Production Act to designate domestic oil output and refining as critical to national defense, a move landing just 12 days before the US midterm vote.
Brent crude climbed 0.45% to $114.02 a barrel and WTI added 0.42% to reach $100, putting Brent on course for a third consecutive weekly rise after Saudi Aramco pulled personnel from its Dhahran headquarters.
The Nasdaq Composite slid 2.58% to close at 26,008.86 and the S&P 500 shed 1.19% to end at 7,664.77 after corporate earnings reports reignited unease over heavy AI infrastructure outlays, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average inched higher, adding 0.03% to finish at 52,873.60.
A steep drop in artificial intelligence shares drove investors toward US government debt, sending 2-to-10-year Treasury yields lower by at least 15 basis points in their sharpest single-day decline in over a year.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.1% year-on-year in September, matching forecasts and climbing back above the Bank of Japan's 2% objective for the first time since December. The yen strengthened on the news.