The yen was slightly firmer on Wednesday after seeing two days of sharp losses, but risk appetite remained strong, helping Asian equities advance for a third straight day. Global stocks were boosted after US indices hit new all-time highs yesterday. Both the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed at fresh record highs as the outlook for global growth improved following a rebound in the US labour market in June and subsiding fears over the impact from BREXIT.

The dollar hit a 2½-week high of 104.98 yen on Tuesday, taking its tally since Monday to over 4%. The pound made even more impressive gains, rising by 6.4% against the Japanese currency over the two days. The dollar had eased to 104.32 yen in late Asian session today, while the pound was slightly down at 138.44 yen.

A downward revision of Japanese industrial output in May had little impact on the yen. Industrial production was revised down from -2.3% month-on-month to -2.6% in May’s final reading.

Cautious comments by Fed policymakers on Tuesday weighed slightly on the greenback today. Regional Fed Presidents, James Bullard and Neel Kashkari, reiterated the view that the Fed should not be in any rush to raise rates.

The dollar was also weaker against the euro but the pound extended its gains against the US currency. The euro eased to 1.1046 dollars in Asian trading today after being unable to hold above the 1.11 level yesterday. The pound meanwhile climbed above 1.33 dollars before dropping back below this level in late session.

Sentiment for the British currency has improved markedly after Theresa May became the only remaining candidate in the leadership contest to replace David Cameron as Conservative party leader and as prime minister. May is expected to officially take over the reigns later today and will likely announce her new cabinet.

The Australian and New Zealand dollars gave up some of yesterday’s strong gains as oil prices slipped back. The AUSSIE was down 0.4% against the greenback at 0.7592, while the kiwi was weaker by 0.6% at 0.7249. A decline in Australia’s WESTPAC consumer confidence index for July also weighed on the AUSSIE today.

Gold prices benefited from the pause in the risk rally to head higher on Wednesday. The yellow metal was trading 0.8% higher at $1342 an ounce in late Asian session.

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, industrial production figures out of the Euro zone will be eyed along with the Bank of Canada’s latest policy decision at 14:00 GMT. A speech by the Fed’s Kaplan will also likely attract some attention.