JAPAN NOV HOUSEHOLD SPENDING POSTS MODEST RISE ON YEAR BUT SLIPS FROM OCT AMID PANDEMIC FEARS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s household spending in November posted a modest rise from a year earlier, up for the second straight month, as the effects of a sales tax hike in October 2019 had faded, but consumption marked the first month-on-month decline in four months in light of rising new cases of the […]
JAPAN FACTORY OUTPUT PICKUP PAUSES IN NOV, SHIPMENTS SLIP, AMID PANDEMIC UNCERTAINTY
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s industrial production marked time in November in its gradual recovery from the pandemic-caused slump after five straight monthly gains, with the level of output staying under year-earlier levels amid uncertainty over global growth, preliminary data released Monday by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry showed. While noting factory […]
JAPAN DEC TOKYO CPI POSTS LARGEST Y/Y DROP IN 10 YEARS
–Sliding Energy Prices, Government-Led Travel Discounts Cited By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Consumer prices in Tokyo, a leading indicator of the national average, took the deepest dive in a decade in December, hit by falling food and energy prices as well as a controversial five-month-old government program to support the pandemic-hit tourism industry with hefty […]
JAPAN GOVT SEES PANDEMIC-CAUSED SOFT SPOTS IN SPENDING, DOWNGRADES VIEW ON EUROPE
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s government Tuesday warned that consumer spending, which accounts for over half of domestic output, is showing soft spots despite its overall improvement from the pandemic-caused slump, according to its monthly report released by the Cabinet Office. While noting increasing export volumes, particularly of automobiles and semiconductor-producing equipment, the government […]
BOJ EXTENDS ASSET BUYING, SPECIAL FUNDING OPS UNTIL SEPT 2021 TO FIGHT COVID DRAG; TO REVIEW EASING TOOLS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of Japan Friday offered an early Christmas gift by extending the period of increased financial asset purchases and special funding operations aimed at promoting more lending to cash-strapped small businesses by six months until the end of September 2021. After a regular two-day policy meeting, the bank’s nine-member […]
JAPAN NOV CPI DROP DEEPER ON WEAKER ENERGY, GOVT-FINANCED HOTEL DISCOUNTS EASE AMID COVID SPIKE
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese consumer prices posted a sharper drop in November as energy costs continued falling but a spike in coronavirus cases later in the month appeared to have slowed the use of hefty government-financed discounts on hotel and transport charges, data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication released Friday […]
US LABELS SWITZERLAND, VIETNAM CURRENCY MANIPULATORS; NOT CHINA
–Tracking China Interventions ‘Closely’ By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The U.S. Treasury Department Wednesday signaled that Switzerland and to a much lesser extent Vietnam are manipulating their currencies, in part at least, for a competitive advantage in trade while China, having briefly been so designated up until January, was not included. Switzerland renewed its […]
JAPAN NOV EXPORTS UNEXPECTEDLY SLUMP, WEAK ENERGY PRICES KEEP TRADE IN SURPLUS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese exports took one step back from the recent pickup trend and posted an unexpected fall in November, remaining below year-earlier levels for two years as the global economy faces pandemic-caused uncertainty, data released Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance showed. The outlook for domestic growth and a return to […]
BoA FUND MANAGER SURVEY: GLOBAL INVESTORS EYE POST-COVID-19 RECOVERY IN 2021, PUT CASH TO WORK IN DEC
By Vicki Schmelzer NEW YORK (MaceNews) – In anticipation of a post-COVID-19 economic recovery in 2021, global investors began more markedly to put cash to work in December, according to the findings of BofA Global Research’s monthly fund manager survey, released Tuesday. In December, a net 89% of fund managers looked for global growth […]
JAPAN: BOJ DEC TANKAN BUSINESS CONFIDENCE JUMPS BUT BIG FIRMS REVISE DOWN CAPEX PLANS
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japanese firms nearly across the board reported their sentiment improved substantially in December from three months earlier, thanks to Chinese and U.S. economic recovery as well as a gradual pickup in domestic demand, according to the Bank of Japan’s quarterly Tankan business survey released Monday. But the survey also showed […]