The decline seemed to kick in around the time of publication of data on machinery orders which is a key indicator of capital expenditure. It was well below forecast, down 12.5 percent on the month.

Dollar/yen has responded to horrific weakness in data which has continued over the last business day in Japan. Machinery orders were a bit of a horror story.

There is a lack of confidence but there were not any fundamental developments at all.

That kicked into the equities market. Around 25 percent of bank profits come through bond holdings. If they are losing these capital gains then the banks are hit. People then started selling the yen because I think they started fearing things are not smelling too good here.

They're shorting the yen and that's the right attitude. There's a feeling we're reaching some kind of endgame,

I think the real concern driving corporations is that they maintain profitability and that they do so in a way that is supportive of the environmental concerns of the citizens.