John Higgins at Capital Economics said fundamentals still favor the yen and it should strengthen before end-2027. He described current yen weakness as puzzling: the US-Japan 5-year bond yield differential has moved in yen’s favor and the inflation-adjusted real policy-rate gap that was materially positive has now disappeared. He noted an Iran-driven oil-price rise could worsen Japan’s terms of trade again, but net trade terms have improved in recent years. Capital Economics forecasts USD/JPY at

Zhaopin’s 1H 2026 AI talent report: AI hiring employers +24.8% YoY, openings +10.6% YoY. R&D/technical roles make up the largest share; HR, sales and product entered the top 15. First- and new first-tier cities account for 65% of AI hiring demand; Beijing is the largest market and Shanghai has the fastest openings growth; Changsha, Wuhan and Chengdu lead new first-tier growth. Demand-to-supply ratio for AI engineers is 2.62; AI product manager openings surged 87.7% YoY. AI agent development demand rose 244% YoY, signaling movement from assistive tools toward autonomous execution. Aerospace shows notable engineer demand and pay; auto R&D/manufacturing faces a severe AI engineer shortage (demand-to-supply 8.2). New energy AI engineer openings grew 38.2% YoY. AI product managers are accelerating into pharmaceuticals and auto; in pharmaceuticals pay reaches up to 21,048 yuan.

U.S. Vice President Vance said on Iran the U.S. is engaged in a delicate diplomatic game.