The yen was on track for its best monthly start to the year since 2018 on Friday, helped by the view that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to keep raising rates this year while its global peers elsewhere look to ease policy.

The US dollar rose Friday following fresh tariff threats from US President Donald Trump, while the euro stayed weak after an interest rate cut by the European Central Bank.

Tepid growth across British businesses edged up at the start of 2025 but employment and optimism contracted again and price pressures rose, according to a survey that underscored the challenge facing the Bank of England.

A clear majority of British businesses look set to cut the size of pay awards for staff in response to coming tax hikes and they remain pessimistic about the outlook for the economy, two surveys showed on Monday.

China's manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in January, an official factory survey showed on Monday, its weakest since August, keeping alive calls for stimulus in the world's second-largest economy.

Most Asian stocks fell on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump’s imposition of trade tariffs on Colombia rattled risk appetite with the possibility of more such moves.