That helped firm up the dollar, which is on pace for a nearly 2% gain for the month. The yen, on the other hand, was loitering around its lowest level since February at just under 154 per dollar, spurring some verbal jawboning by Tokyo officials.
The Bank of Japan held rates steady on Thursday as expected, but markets interpreted comments from Governor Kazuo Ueda as dovish even though he dropped hints that a rate hike remains on the table.
The slump in the yen, down nearly 4% in October, has been a boost for the Nikkei, which breezed past another record high and is on pace for a 16% surge in the month, its strongest monthly performance since January 1994. The "Takaichi trade" in all its glory.
South Korea's Kospi, the best-performing stock market in the world this year, is on course for a 20% rise in October, the biggest surge since January 2001.
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