The Japanese yen is surging

Investing.com

The Japanese yen is spiking.

The currency strengthened by as much as 1.0% to 105.83 per dollar around 1:52 p.m. ET.

Earlier in the morning, Reuters reported, citing the BBC, that Haruhiko Kuroda, the Bank of Japan governor, said the central bank won't use "helicopter money" in its battle against deflation.

While it was later revealed the interview took place in mid-June, Reuters says the comments are similar to those made last week by a senior adviser to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

As for the rest of the world, here's the scoreboard as of 2:02 p.m. ET:

• The euro is little changed for the day at 1.1006 after spiking by 0.4% to 1.1052 against the dollar around 8:46 a.m. ET during ECB head Mario Draghi's presser. Earlier in the morning, the European Central Bank held rates, as expected. The bank left all of its main rates unchanged, with its key refinancing rate remaining at 0%, and the key deposit rate left at -0.4%. Notably, the euro dipped below 1.1000 on Wednesday for the first time since June 27.
• The Turkish lira is stronger by 0.7% at 3.0692 per dollar. On Wednesday, the currency plunged to a record-low after S&P downgraded Turkey's rating to BB from BB+ and changed the country's outlook to negative.
• The British pound is little changed at 1.3200 against the dollar after retail sales fell 0.9% month-over-month in June, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. The drop was the biggest in nine months, with officials identifying the weather, not the Brexit vote, as the reason for the disappointment.
• The US dollar index is weaker by 0.2% at 97.04 after initial jobless claims unexpectedly fell, home prices rose less than expected, existing home sales unexpectedly rose, and the Philly Fed manufacturing index unexpectedly shrunk.
• As for the Nigerian naira, some analysts and economists have noted recently that the currency is looking a lot less "free" than was promised last month when the central bank finally de-pegged it from the dollar.

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