Dow Soars to Record High as Yen Plunges Amid US-Japanese Intervention

The US stock market saw significant gains on Monday, with the Dow Jones hitting a new record high. This boost was largely due to solid manufacturing data and optimism around earnings and U.S.-Iran peace hopes.

Japan's yen slumped to a three-month low after a historic bout of coordinated US-Japanese intervention in the foreign exchange market. The US Treasury spent nearly $100 billion over 48 hours last week buying Japanese yen, with Japan estimating it will have spent around $310 billion over the past four years defending its currency.

Despite this volatility in the markets, investors seem to be shrugging off recent financial wobbles and focusing on positive earnings pictures. The S&P 500 rebounded to within 0.5% of its record high, with big US indices all seeing gains. Amazon hit a $3 trillion market cap, while Oracle rose 9%, Boeing 8%, Microsoft and Alphabet 5%, and eBay fell 6%.