{"id":65153,"date":"2026-07-21T10:08:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:08:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-react-to-yen-slump-uk-defense-pivot-and-financial-sector-upgrades\/65153\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T10:08:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T14:08:34","slug":"global-markets-react-to-yen-slump-uk-defense-pivot-and-financial-sector-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-react-to-yen-slump-uk-defense-pivot-and-financial-sector-upgrades\/65153\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets React to Yen Slump, UK Defense Pivot, and Financial Sector Upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Japanese Yen hits 40-year low<\/strong>, touching <strong>162.89 against the USD<\/strong>, the weakest level since 1986.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Charles Schwab (<a href=\"\/stock\/SCHW\">SCHW<\/a>)<\/strong> issues bullish guidance, forecasting <strong>FY revenue growth of 17.5% to 18.5%<\/strong> following record Q2 results.<\/li>\n<li><strong>UK Defense Secretary Wes Streeting<\/strong> signals a rapid increase in military spending, aiming for <strong>3% of GDP by 2030<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>HSBC upgrades Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>)<\/strong> to Hold and raises price targets for both Goldman and <strong>Morgan Stanley (<a href=\"\/stock\/MS\">MS<\/a>)<\/strong> to <strong>$995<\/strong> and <strong>$215<\/strong>, respectively.<\/li>\n<li><strong>US 30-year Treasury yields<\/strong> climb to their highest levels since late May, driven by rising <a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/energy\/crude-oil\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"12\" title=\"Crude oil\">oil prices<\/a> and persistent inflation concerns.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Currency and Bond Market Volatility<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Japanese Yen<\/strong> continued its downward spiral on Tuesday, hitting a fresh 40-year low of <strong>162.89 against the US Dollar<\/strong>. This slide comes as the Bank of Japan remains absent from the market, leaving traders to test the upper limits of the USD\/JPY range. <em>Analysts suggest that higher energy prices are further straining Japan&#39;s trade position<\/em>, as the nation remains heavily dependent on imported fuel.<\/p>\n<p>In the fixed-income markets, <strong>US Treasury yields<\/strong> extended their recent climb. The <strong>30-year yield<\/strong> reached its highest point since May 21, 2026, as investors reacted to a simultaneous rise in <strong>crude oil prices<\/strong>. <em>Market sentiment remains cautious<\/em> as the Federal Reserve is expected to stay alert to renewed inflation pressures fueled by rising commodity costs.<\/p>\n<h2>Financial Sector Momentum<\/h2>\n<p>Charles Schwab (<a href=\"\/stock\/SCHW\">SCHW<\/a>) reported a blockbuster second quarter, with <strong>net revenues reaching a record $7.1 billion<\/strong>, up 21% year-over-year. The firm\u2019s leadership expressed significant optimism for the remainder of the year, projecting <strong>full-year revenue growth between 17.5% and 18.5%<\/strong>. This growth is supported by <strong>$120 billion in core net new assets<\/strong> gathered during the quarter.<\/p>\n<p>Banking giants also saw positive momentum following a series of analyst upgrades from <strong>HSBC<\/strong>. The bank raised its price target for Morgan Stanley (<a href=\"\/stock\/MS\">MS<\/a>) to <strong>$215<\/strong> from $190, citing the firm&#39;s resilience in wealth management. Additionally, HSBC upgraded Goldman Sachs (<a href=\"\/stock\/GS\">GS<\/a>) from <strong>Reduce to Hold<\/strong>, significantly lifting its price target to <strong>$995<\/strong> from $834, noting that earnings upgrades have outpaced share price performance.<\/p>\n<h2>UK Geopolitical and Policy Shifts<\/h2>\n<p>In the United Kingdom, the newly appointed <strong>Defence Secretary Wes Streeting<\/strong> has signaled a major pivot in national security policy. Streeting indicated that defense spending will rise much faster under the current Labour government, moving toward a target of <strong>3% of GDP by 2030<\/strong>. This commitment follows the UK&#39;s move to invite <strong>Canada<\/strong> as an observer nation in the <strong>Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)<\/strong> to develop next-generation fighter jets.<\/p>\n<p>Domestically, the Labour Party is enjoying a &quot;Burnham Bounce&quot; following the transition of leadership to <strong>Prime Minister Andy Burnham<\/strong>. Recent polling from <strong>Deltapoll<\/strong> shows Labour has wiped out the lead previously held by <strong>Reform UK<\/strong>, with both parties now tied at <strong>28%<\/strong>. <em>The surge in support is attributed to Burnham&#39;s &quot;cost-of-living&quot; agenda<\/em>, which includes plans to cut VAT on energy bills and cap bus fares.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Japanese Yen hits 40-year low, touching 162.89 against the USD, the weakest level since 1986. Charles Schwab (SCHW) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[5046,5081,5248,5603,6595,13988,15506,20708],"class_list":["post-65153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-defense-spending","tag-jpy","tag-uk-politics","tag-ms-stock-ms","tag-gs-stock-gs","tag-schw-stock-schw","tag-gcap","tag-us-treasury-yields"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}