Update: Japan Week Ahead: Markets Look for Signs of Follow-Up BOJ Move in A Few Months After Milestone Rate Hike in June, Warning about Inflation
–Updates to Show New Date for Monthly Economic Report –June Tokyo CPI Inflation Seen Accelerating on Rising Costs for Plastics, Other Goods amid Mideast Materials Supply Squeeze but Still Below 2% BOJ Target By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Financial markets are expected to be volatile in the coming week after Iran announced on the weekend […]
Japan Week Ahead: US Treasury Secretary Bessent Goes to Tokyo on Way to US-China Summit, Meeting PM Takaichi, Others, After Suspected Japan FX Intervention
–Household Spending Seen Sluggish amid Rising Costs, Producer Inflation Accelerating on Mideast Conflict By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese events for the coming week. Trading returns to normal after the Golden Week holidays that ended on Wednesday, May 6. Government policymakers have also returned from international meetings and diplomatic visits. The […]
Japan Keeps Cautiously Optimistic Economic Outlook as Bulls Drive Tokyo Stocks Higher on Hopes of End to Mideast Conflict, Resumed Gulf Shipping
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s government continues to expect a gradual economic recovery, backed by strong demand for investment in artificial intelligence, while Tokyo stock markets keep flirting with record highs on hopes of an end to the Iran war that would allow reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, crucial for oil and gas […]
Japan Week Ahead: BOJ Branch Managers Update on Regional Economies at Quarterly Meeting Ahead of April 27-28 Policy Decision
–February Household Spending Seen Sluggish amid Falling Real Wages; March Producer Inflation to Tick Up on Higher Energy Costs By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese events for the coming week in the new fiscal year that began on April 1. Bank of Japan branch managers will provide their latest assessments of […]
Japan Week Ahead: PM Takaichi Back to Inflation Fighting after Performing in Trump Diplomatic Theater; February Core CPI Seen Drifting Below BOJ’s 2%, Calm Before Iran War Storm
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese events for the coming week. Following last week’s majority decision by the Bank of Japan’s board to pause in its gradual rate hike process, CPI data for February is forecast to show core inflation moderated to an annual rate below the bank’s 2% target as […]
US ISM Manufacturing PMI Stays in Expansionary State in February but Many Firms Complain US Tariffs Boosting Procurement Costs
–ISM’s Spence: Wouldn’t Be Surprised If Price Pressure Continued in Light of Heightened Tensions in Middle East By Max Sato (MaceNews) – U.S. manufacturing activity stayed in expansionary territory in February after springing back to life from a year-long slumber the previous month but firms are blaming the protectionist trade policy under President Donald Trump […]
US ISM Services Sector Afloat over Optimism for Better Business in 2026 but AI Boom Causing Capacity Concerns; Overall Cost Pressures Remain High
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The U.S. services sector posted a 19th straight month of expansion in January on general optimism that things will turn around in 2026 in the aftermath of Trump tariff storms but the pace of activity was flat on the month as data center expansion is causing capacity concerns and rising […]
Update: Japan Week Ahead: Bank of Japan Set to Hike Rates amid Easing Uncertainty over Trade Rows, Focus on Governor Ueda Remarks on Estimated Neutral Rate
–Adds Context to Economy Watchers Survey in Paragraphs 15-17 (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic events for the coming week, with the market focus on what the governor of the Bank of Japan will say about a widely expected interest rate hike and how much more the bank should lift the overnight rate […]
Japan Weekahead: New Ruling Party Leader Takaichi to Set Policy Agenda, Seek Close Contact Between Government and Central Bank
— Bank of Japan Releases Quarterly Regional Economic Report, Survey on Consumer Sentiment, Inflation Outlook By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic and political events for the coming week. Now that the ruling conservative Liberal Democratic Party has elected its new leader, Sanae Takaichi, the focus is on what economic and […]
Report: Japan, U.S. Mull Possible Trump Visit to Tokyo in Late October
By Chikafumi Hodo TOKYO (MaceNews) – Japan and the United States are in talks over a possible visit by President Donald Trump to Tokyo in October, ahead of his planned trip to South Korea for an international summit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The visit would mark the first in-person meeting between Trump and the […]