TMCnet News

Kyodo news summary -1-
[October 30, 2014]

Kyodo news summary -1-


(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- BOJ to cut growth estimate but stick to inflation scenario TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Friday will likely cut its forecast of the country's economic growth in the current fiscal year, though sticking to its view that a 2 percent inflation rate will be achieved by sometime next year.



Holding a policy meeting, the central bank is also expected to keep steady its aggressive monetary easing to boost the economy, sources close to the matter said. BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will hold a press conference later in the day.

---------- German ambassador believes Japan-China reconciliation possible TOKYO - Hans Carl von Werthern, the German ambassador to Japan, calls himself a "trained mediator." Having served in Beijing prior to his assignment in Tokyo, he has witnessed the turbulent relationship between China and Japan close up. He is convinced that Japan's reconciliation with China and South Korea is possible through "discussion and negotiation," as he told Kyodo News in a wide-ranging interview recently.


---------- FOCUS: Japan-China relations at crossroads ahead of APEC summit BEIJING - Japan and China stand at a crossroads of what to do with their deeply frayed relations as a regional economic meeting to be attended by the two countries' top leaders is just around the corner.

Senior officials of both countries, despite many differences in opinion, generally share the view that it would look very odd if Chinese President Xi Jinping had no exchange of words with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov. 10-11.

---------- Microsoft enters wearables market with Band health tracker NEW YORK - Microsoft Corp. announced Wednesday that the software giant has entered the newly emerging wearable technology market with Microsoft Band, a health-monitoring "smart band" that can track physical activity.

The device has 10 sensors that measures heart rate and sleep patterns. It can be linked not only to smartphones using Windows mobile operating system, but also those of Google Inc.'s Android and Apple Inc.'s iOS.

---------- No prospect for Pacific free trade pact agreement at APEC: U.S.

WASHINGTON - U.S. trade chief Michael Froman said Thursday there is no prospect of clinching an agreement on a contentious Pacific free trade initiative at the upcoming summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

"We do not expect to have a final agreement on TPP at APEC" in Beijing, Froman told an event in Washington, referring to negotiations on a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal involving the United States and 11 other countries.

---------- Japan's jobless rate worsened to 3.6% in Sept.

TOKYO - Japan's unemployment rate worsened to 3.6 percent in September from 3.5 percent the previous month, the government said Friday.

Separate data showed the country's job availability in September worsened for the first time in three years and four months. The ratio of employment offers to seekers fell to 1.09 from 1.10 in August, which means 109 positions were available for every 100 job seekers.

---------- Dollar trades in lower 109 yen range in early Tokyo deals TOKYO - The U.S. dollar traded in the lower 109 yen range early Friday in Tokyo, little changed from its overnight levels in New York.

At 9 a.m., the dollar fetched 109.22-23 yen compared with 109.17-27 yen in New York and 109.17-19 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Thursday.

---------- Japan's household spending down 5.6% in Sept.

TOKYO - Japan's average household spending in September slipped an inflation-adjusted 5.6 percent from a year earlier to 275,226 yen for the sixth consecutive month of decline following the April consumption tax hike, the government said Friday.

The drop was bigger than August's 4.7 percent decline, and the result, released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, underlined that spending by wage-earning households remains in deep freeze after the government hiked the tax rate to 8 percent from 5 percent on April 1.

---------- FEATURE: Nursing home cares for elderly, children, disabled all under one roof TOYAMA, Japan - Sitting around a table, a dozen elderly women watch affectionately as small children play next to them. When one of the women opened a book to read, a little boy ran up to her and asked curiously, "What are you reading?" Such a scene is typical at day-care house Konoyubi Tomare, located in a residential area in Toyama, central Japan. The elderly women are being taken care of due to dementia, and the children are there while their parents go to work, explained Kayoko Soman, one of the facility's founders.

---------- Tokyo stocks open higher on firmer dollar, Wall St. gains TOKYO - Tokyo stocks opened higher Friday, taking a cue from the U.S. dollar's firmness in the lower 109 yen zone and an overnight rise in U.S. stocks stemming from strong U.S. gross domestic product data.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 208.09 points, or 1.33 percent, from Thursday to 15,866.29. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 16.71 points, or 1.31 percent, at 1,295.61.

---------- Japan's Sept. consumer prices up 3.0% on year TOKYO - Japan's consumer prices rose 3.0 percent in September from a year earlier, up for the 16th consecutive month, but the pace of inflation slowed amid falling global crude oil prices, the government said Friday.

The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, stood at 103.5 against the 2010 base of 100, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said. The rise was nearly in line with analysts' forecasts.

---------- U.S. agency demands Takata to hand over faulty air bag documents NEW YORK - U.S. regulators ordered Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp. on Thursday to provide documents related to its investigation of the company's potentially defective air bags that have prompted over seven million cars to be recalled in the United States.

"We are compelling Takata to produce documents and answer questions under oath relevant to our ongoing investigation into defective airbags they have produced," National Highway Traffic Safety Administration deputy administrator David Friedman said in an emailed statement.

---------- SoftBank looks to Mexican carrier America Movil: report NEW YORK - Japan's SoftBank Corp. is eyeing wireless assets put up for sale by America Movil, a major Mexican carrier, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Japanese telecommunications company recently assigned Chief Executive Marcelo Claure of Sprint Corp., a U.S. carrier it bought last year, to gather information on the Mexican firm's assets, the report said.

(c) 2014 Kyodo News

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