Tag: Japan

Core consumer inflation in Japan’s capital accelerated in November and stayed above the central bank’s 2% target, data showed on Friday, as price pressures broadened, keeping alive market expectations for a near-term interest rate hike.

Japan’s cabinet on Friday approved an economic stimulus package worth more than $140 billion, in Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s latest push to tackle inflation and boost growth after his coalition suffered a bruising electoral defeat last month.

Japan’s exports expanded faster than expected in October, led by a pick-up in chip equipment demand in China, though fears persist over potential U.S. protectionist trade policies that could hamper future shipments.

Japan’s third-quarter real gross domestic product expanded 0.3% year on year, snapping two straight quarters of year-on-year decline, according to government data released Friday.

Japan’s government will propose a $65 billion plan to boost its chip industry with subsidies and other financial assistance over a period of “multiple years”, a draft seen on Monday by Reuters showed.

The yen slid to as weak as 147.15 against the U.S. dollar after Ishiba told reporters that the current economic climate does not require an additional rate increase. The currency clocked its largest single-day decline since June 2022 during the session.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index tumbled nearly 5% early Monday after the country’s ruling Liberal Democrats chose Shigeru Ishiba, a former defense minister, as the next prime minister.

Core inflation in Japan’s capital matched the central bank’s 2% target in September, data showed, a sign the economy is making progress in meeting the criteria for further interest rate hikes.

Japan’s economy grew at a slightly slower pace than initially reported in the second quarter, hurt by downward revisions in corporate and household spending that point to a bumpier second half for consumption and the central bank’s rate-hike plans.

Japan’s economy expanded by a much faster-than-expected annualised 3.1% in the second quarter, rebounding from a slump at the start of the year thanks to a strong rise in consumption and backing the case for another near-term interest rate hike.

Going into the Japanese market at this moment is akin to catching “a falling knife,” Kelvin Tay, regional chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

Japan’s core inflation accelerated in May due to energy levies but an index that strips away the effect of fuel slowed for the ninth straight month, data showed on Friday, complicating the central bank’s decision on how soon to raise interest rates.

Japan’s exports surged 13.5% in May, faster than expected growth helped by a weak yen and strong demand in the U.S. and Asia.

Japan’s economy contracted less than initially reported in January-March on upward revisions to capital spending and inventory data, lending modest support to the central bank’s plans to raise interest rates again this year.

Data from Japan’s Ministry of Finance Friday confirmed the country’s first currency intervention since 2022, after the Japanese yen plunged to a 34-year-low in April.

Japan’s currency surged as much as 5 yen against the dollar on Monday, with traders citing heavy yen-buying intervention by Japanese banks for the first time in 18 months after the currency hit fresh 34-year lows earlier in the day.

Japan’s economy avoided a technical recession, revised government data showed on Monday, even though the upward change in the fourth quarter was weaker than expected and highlighted concerns about the sluggish economic recovery.

Consumer price index inflation in Japan’s capital rebounded from 22-month lows in February, increasing the prospect of sticky inflation in the country and putting any potential rate hikes from the Bank of Japan squarely in focus. 

For the whole of 2023, Japan’s nominal GDP grew 5.7% over 2023 to come in at 591.48 trillion yen, or $4.2 trillion based on the average exchange rate in 2023.

Japan’s PPI records a slowdown from 0.3% yoy to 0.0% yoy in December, above expectation of -0.3% yoy. Nevertheless, this figure represents the lowest PPI reading since -0.9% yoy decline in February 2021.