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U.S. forex market summary: dollar briefly rises to upper 159 yen range but struggles to extend gains

Fri May 22, 2026 7:55 am JST Currency

The dollar closed at around 158.98 yen in the New York foreign exchange market on May 21, up about 6 sen from the previous day. The euro was nearly unchanged at around 184.72 yen.

Following a Reuters report that "Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued instructions not to transport the country's enriched uranium abroad," U.S. crude oil futures rose on expectations that talks with the United States to end the conflict would face difficulties, prompting dollar buying. With the release of the previous week's U.S. initial jobless claims showing resilience in the U.S. labor market, the dollar temporarily rose to 159.34 yen. However, when Middle Eastern media reported that "the U.S. and Iran have finalized an agreement with Pakistan's mediation, to be formally announced within hours," U.S. crude oil futures softened, and U.S. Treasury yields turned lower on receding inflation concerns, weakening dollar momentum and pushing the rate down to the 158.80 yen range at one point.

The euro stood at around 1.1619 dollars, down about 0.0005 dollars from the previous day.

Source: MINKABU PRESS

*Translated by generative AI. Click here for the original article.

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