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Kyodo Top12 News (16:00)(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- BOJ further eases policy to boost Japan economy TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Friday further eased its monetary grip to boost the country's economy, in a surprise move that the central bank said is aimed at addressing downward pressure on prices. The BOJ will expand its massive asset purchase program. It will buy Japanese government bonds from financial institutions so that their amount outstanding will increase at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen, up about 30 trillion yen. It will also purchase more investment trusts from banks and other institutions to encourage them to lend more to businesses, while providing more liquidity to the economy in order for base money to increase at an annual pace of about 80 trillion yen, up from 60 trillion to 70 trillion yen. ---------- Japan's tepid economic data may urge gov't to act TOKYO - Economic data released Friday indicated that Japan's economy has remained lackluster following the April 1 consumption tax hike, raising skepticism about whether the government can carry out a further tax increase. Expectations are intensifying that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration will take economic stimulus measures in the near future, regardless of it putting off the tax hike next year. As the pace of rise in consumer prices has also slowed, the Bank of Japan decided later in the day to implement additional easing steps to achieve its 2 percent inflation target by sometime next year. The BOJ's surprise move is apparently intended to boost the economy and pave the way for the tax hike next year, in an attempt to fend off concern that the bank will finance huge government bonds, some analysts said. ---------- Australia PM voices reservations about China-led infrastructure bank SYDNEY - Australia is engaged in ongoing discussions with China about possibly joining a regional infrastructure investment bank being established at its initiative, but it still has concerns about transparency and governance arrangements, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday. "We would like to join, but it's got to be a multilateral institution with the kind of transparency and the kind of governance arrangements that, for argument's sake, the World Bank has," Abbott said at a press conference in Melbourne. Last Friday, China and 20 other countries including India signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in Beijing by the end of 2015, starting with a capital of around $50 billion. ---------- N. Korea sets deadline for EU to respond about U.N. resolution NEW YORK - North Korea on Thursday said the European Union has until Friday to respond to its call for dialogue about a draft U.N. resolution crafted by the EU and Japan that denounces Pyongyang's human rights record, threatening to suspend consultations. One of North Korea's sticking points in the resolution is a paragraph about "crimes against humanity" committed in the country in line with "policies established at the highest level of the State for decades," according to Marzuki Darusman, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea. While the draft document does not name North Korean officials, Pyongyang may be concerned that calls could grow for supreme leader Kim Jong Un to be held accountable. ---------- Obama urges Thein Sein to ensure nationwide cease-fire in Myanmar WASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama has urged Myanmar President Thein Sein to step up efforts for a nationwide cease-fire with ethnic minority rebels, the White House said Thursday. Obama told Thein Sein that "every effort should be made" to attain a cease-fire in a telephone conversation ahead of Obama's visit to Myanmar next month, according to the White House. Obama will attend the East Asia Summit and a summit between the United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations planned for November in Naypyitaw. Obama also called on Thein Sein to improve the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State in the Buddhist-dominated country, where sectarian conflicts have taken place between Muslim Rohingyas and Buddhists. ---------- Australian Senate endorses gov't scheme to cut greenhouse emissions SYDNEY - Australia's Senate narrowly passed legislation Friday on reducing greenhouse emissions, with the government scheme to replace a polarizing carbon tax abolished three months ago on grounds it made Australian businesses less competitive. The new legislation championed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was a fierce opponent of the carbon tax, is expected to pass easily through the House of Representatives in which the ruling Liberal-National coalition has a majority. "It is a cost-effective and practical approach that will reduce our national emissions without a multi-billion dollar carbon tax," Environment Minister Greg Hunt said in a statement, adding that the scheme will help Australia meet its emissions reduction target of 5 percent below 2000 levels by 2020. ---------- State memorials to be built in 2 cities hit by 2011 quake, tsunami TOKYO - The Japanese government decided Friday to build national memorials in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, and Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, to victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan. The government hopes to finish building the memorials in March 2021, the 10th anniversary of the disaster, which killed nearly 15,900 people, with some 2,600 others still missing. Each of the memorials is expected to cover several hectares within a park to be built by local governments. The sites are likely to take the shape of monuments, hills or woods, rather than buildings. It is rare for the state to build memorials for the victims of natural disasters. ---------- Sony posts wider 1st-half net loss on mobile phone business slump TOKYO - Sony Corp. on Friday reported a wider first-half group net loss of 109.16 billion yen, as its struggling mobile phone business bit into the bottom line. The loss in the first six months ended in September compares to a loss of 16.50 billion yen in the same period last year. The beleaguered electronics giant logged a group operating loss of 15.77 billion yen in the first half, reversing a profit of 49.43 billion yen a year earlier, while group sales were up 6.5 percent at 3.71 trillion yen. Sony kept intact its full-year forecast after it revised down the outlook last month as it would book an asset impairment charge of about 180 billion yen to reform its smartphone business hurt by harsh competition with price-competitive Chinese rivals. ---------- Sharp logs net profit in April-Sept. period for 1st time in 4 years TOKYO - Sharp Corp. on Friday reported a group net profit of 4.74 billion yen in the April-September period, returning to the black on a half-year basis for the first time in four years as gains on securities sales helped offset costs stemming from restructuring its unprofitable European operations. The net profit compares with a loss of 4.33 billion yen in the same period last year. The struggling electronics maker, however, saw its consolidated operating profit drop 13.6 percent from a year before to 29.22 billion yen, partly because demand for white goods was hit by the country's consumption tax hike in April. Group sales fell 1.1 percent to 1.33 trillion yen. For the full business year ending next March, Sharp maintained that it expects a consolidated net profit of 30 billion yen, up 159.5 percent from the previous year, and an operating profit of 100 billion yen, down 7.9 percent. ---------- Seiyu to close 30 unprofitable stores from 2015 TOKYO - Tokyo-based supermarket chain operator Seiyu GK and its parent, U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., will close about 30 unprofitable stores in Japan from 2015, according to the companies. The closure will affect about 10 percent of their 373 outlets in the country. The companies have not said which stores are slated to be shut or when exactly it will happen. The companies plan to focus their efforts on stores with good locations and to refurbish about 50 stores with an eye to offering a wider selection of fresh food and deli, according to the firms. Seiyu and Wal-Mart will also strengthen an online grocery shopping business by expanding the area covered by their service in the next three years. ---------- Nikkei ends at 7-year high, dollar trades in lower 11 yen range TOKYO - Tokyo stocks soared Friday, with the Nikkei stock index ending at its highest level in around seven years, after the Bank of Japan decided to expand its massive asset purchase program. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended up 755.56 points, or 4.83 percent, from Thursday at 16,413.76, its highest finish since Nov. 2, 2007. The broader Topix index finished up 54.74 points, or 4.28 percent, at 1,333.64. On the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 111 yen range. At 4 p.m., the dollar fetched 111.13-14 yen compared with 109.17-27 yen in New York late Thursday afternoon. The euro was quoted at 139.61-64 yen against 137.68-78 yen in New York. ---------- Weather forecast for key cities in Japan TOKYO - Weather forecast for Saturday: Tokyo=cloudy, then occasionally rain; Osaka=cloudy, occasionally rain; Nagoya=cloudy, occasionally rain; Sapporo=cloudy, then occasionally rain; Sendai=cloudy, occasionally rain; Niigata=cloudy; Hiroshima=cloudy, occasionally rain; Takamatsu=cloudy, occasionally rain: Fukuoka=rain, then cloudy; Naha=cloudy, occasionally fair. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |