The dollar eased and government bond yields fell to their lowest in more than a month on Friday 30 October 2026, as a fresh wave of selling in artificial intelligence shares drove investors towards safety. The dollar index, measuring the US currency against a basket of peers, was a shade weaker at 101.77 on Friday, but still set for a 0.3% gain in October, a second straight monthly rise.

Bonds rally as shares slide

The benchmark US 10-year Treasury yield was last at 4.8958% and the 30-year yield at 5.2623%, both at their lowest in over a month. In Tokyo trade on Friday, the 10-year yield fell by more than 7 basis points to 4.91%, for a fall of about 37 basis points through October, the largest one-month drop since December 2023. The two-year yield dropped by more than 8 basis points to 4.57%.

The move was driven by the same worry rattling tech shares all week: that AI spending is running far ahead of returns, after Alphabet's results earlier in the week rekindled worries about AI spending. When risk appetite fades, money moves into government bonds, pushing their prices up and yields down.

Currencies in the same session

The yen, after weakening slightly to around 157.815 per dollar before the Bank of Japan decision, strengthened to a high of 157.115 per dollar after the Bank held rates at 1.25%, erasing most of its losses for the month. Sterling strengthened to $1.3390–$1.34 and was up 1% for October; the euro was flat to slightly stronger at $1.1185–$1.1197, on track for a 1.2% monthly drop after briefly dipping to its lowest since May 2025 in the previous session. South Korea's KOSPI slumped 5% in the same risk-off session, for an October fall of more than 17%.

This story is framed on the dollar and bond flight to safety, not on the Bank of Japan hold itself, which is already covered separately on this site.

Sources: Reuters and Reuters, via syndication.