Good morning. Here's what happened overnight and what you need to know today.
1.
Yen surge: Japan appears to have conducted its second currency intervention this week, worth around ¥3.5 trillion ($34.8 billion), based on an analysis of Bank of Japan account figures that diverged significantly from market forecasts. This intervention likely occurred shortly after the Federal Reserve's policy announcement, signalling Japanese authorities are taking an increasingly aggressive stance to prop up the yen following an earlier ¥5.5 trillion intervention on Monday. The yen plunged to multi-decade lows against the dollar last year. Officials have declined to confirm the interventions publicly, but the analysis of central bank accounts points to the government's determination to combat speculative yen selling, especially ahead of key US employment data releases. (Bloomberg)(Reuters)
2.
Competition stakes: Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant blacklisted by the US, has been secretly funding a prestigious American research competition. The prize, administered by the Optica Foundation in Washington DC, has awarded millions of dollars since 2022 and has received submissions from top universities – many of whom have banned researchers from working with Huawei. The foundation is not required to disclose Huawei as the funder per a confidential agreement, meaning applicants, judges and universities did not know the money came from a Chinese tech firm the US sees as a national security threat. While probably allowed under US export rules, the lack of transparency about the company's role in potentially defence-relevant optics research raises concerns about undisclosed foreign influence and potential intellectual property risks, with universities now investigating the matter. (Bloomberg)
