Japan’s Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama said the government will push households and pension funds, including the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), to increase investment in Japanese financial assets. The GPIF manages ¥293.6 trillion in assets. Her remarks fueled expectations of renewed allocation to yen-denominated assets, lifting the yen against the dollar from levels near multiyear lows.

Japan’s central government is considering revising how it refers to monetary policy in its annual economic and fiscal agenda to avoid appearing to pressure the Bank of Japan, the Asahi newspaper reported. An earlier draft said the “appropriate conduct” of monetary policy was “very important,” language some read as a signal discouraging further rate hikes. The latest draft adds an inflation reference, calling for policy that contributes to stable price increases, according to the report. The yen was trading around ¥162.30 per dollar in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, near last week’s ¥162.84, its weakest level in 40 years.

Early counting in Colombia’s presidential runoff shows Trump-backed conservative candidate Abelardo de la Espriella leading with 50.6% of the vote. His platform explicitly supports restarting oil exploration and allowing fracking. If he wins, the result would reverse President Gustavo Petro’s energy policy and push new oil and gas development. The shift would directly reshape energy policy in South America’s third-largest economy and lift expectations for global crude supply.

The yen fell to a 23-month low of ¥160.79 per dollar, edging past a level around ¥160 that many in the market view as a trigger for intervention. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said authorities would “take appropriate action as needed at any time.” In equities, the Nikkei 225 broke above 71,000 for the first time and touched an intraday high of 71,398.58, led by semiconductor-related stocks after overnight gains in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index.

Japan ride-hailing platform Go completed the country’s largest IPO of the year, raising $553 million, with Goldman Sachs serving as a joint global coordinator after investing ¥10 billion in 2023. Shares rose 21% on the first trading day, valuing the company at ¥186 billion. The deal reflects Goldman’s routine investment-banking activity with no disclosed new capital commitment, ownership change or revised guidance. Any impact on Goldman is limited to underwriting fees and mark-to-market gains on its existing stake, and is not positioned as a near-term trading catalyst.