By Leika Kihara TOKYO (Reuters) -Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda on Tuesday stressed the need to keep monetary policy ultra-loose for now, but signalled the chance of raising interest rates if inflation and wage growth overshot expectations. “In light of current economic, price and financial developments, it’s appropriate to maintain monetary easing, now…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s business-to-business service inflation hit an eight-year high in the fiscal year that ended March, data showed on Tuesday, a sign inflationary pressure was broadening beyond goods reflecting a tight job market and solid domestic demand. The data may keep alive market expectations that new Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda…
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan raised its official assessment of imports for first time in nine months, the government’s monthly economic report showed on Tuesday, as the yen’s double-digit depreciation from a year earlier puffed up the value of imported goods. While the report maintained the overview of the economy that it was on a moderate…
By Choonsik Yoo and Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s heavily trade-reliant economy barely averted a recession posting slim growth in the first quarter, but the outlook remained clouded by weak exports due to a cooling global economy, even with China’s reopening. South Korea’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the first quarter expanded by 0.3%…
By Elizabeth Howcroft LONDON (Reuters) -Top cryptocurrency bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of 2024, Standard Chartered said on Monday, saying that the so-called “crypto winter” is over. Bitcoin could gain from factors including recent turmoil in the banking sector, a stabilisation of risk assets as the U.S. Federal Reserve ends its interest rate-hiking…
MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr on Monday said he will press U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to make clear the extent of Washington’s commitment to protect his country under a 1951 security pact, citing growing regional tension. The past two Philippine administrations have urged former colonial power United States to be specific on…
By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission has tweaked draft patent rules to make it easier for patent holders to sue companies over royalty disputes following criticism that an earlier draft favoured users while restricting patent owners from seeking injunctions. The EU executive, which will announce the draft rules on Wednesday, is…
By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that the risk of conflict between global powers was at an “historic high” and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the world was at a threshold “possibly even more dangerous” than during the Cold War. Guterres, seated next to Lavrov in the…
By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. As world markets tread water ahead of U.S. mega-tech earnings and the Bank of Japan meeting this week, investors on Tuesday will have one eye on the first estimate of South Korean GDP growth in the first quarter…
By Stephen Culp NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street shuffled to a mixed close on Monday, with interest rate-sensitive momentum shares weighing on the Nasdaq and U.S. Treasury yields dipping as investors braced for a week of high-profile quarterly earnings and closely watched economic data. The benchmark S&P 500 and the Dow ended the session…
