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Kyodo Top12 News (22:00)(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ---------- BOJ unexpectedly eases policy to boost economy, lift inflation TOKYO - The Bank of Japan on Friday further loosened monetary policy to underpin the country's economy, in a surprise move that the central bank said is aimed at countering downward pressure on prices as it seeks to raise the inflation rate to 2 percent by sometime next year. But at its one-day meeting, the BOJ Policy Board split in making the decision to expand its asset purchase program, with four of the board's nine members opposing the additional easing. Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his two deputies voted for the easing. The BOJ also downgraded its economic growth and inflation forecasts, revising downward the estimate of real growth in the current fiscal year to 0.5 percent from July's forecast of 1.0 percent due largely to weak consumption and industrial output following the April consumption tax hike. ---------- N. Korea tells Japan past probes into abductees insufficient TOKYO - North Korea acknowledged in talks with Japan earlier this week that its previous rounds of investigations into Japanese nationals it abducted decades ago were insufficient, a Japanese government official said Friday. "With restricted time, special organizations released one-sided results," the official quoted North Korea's special investigation committee as saying, referring to Pyongyang's investigations in 2002 and 2004. Speaking at a meeting with lawmakers of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the official quoted the committee as saying that it "wants to produce solid results in the current round" of investigations into the 12 Japanese nationals officially recognized by Tokyo as abduction victims and still missing. ---------- Gov't likely to compile 3 tril. yen extra budget to support economy TOKYO - The Japanese government is considering compiling an extra budget of around 3 trillion yen for the current fiscal year through March to prevent further economic deterioration following the April consumption tax hike, sources close to the matter said Friday. The supplementary budget would pave the way for a planned additional sales tax hike in October next year by lifting personal spending that has been dampened by the 3-percentage-point consumption tax hike to 8 percent from April 1. The government will try to fund the supplementary budget without new government bond issuance, in view of the need to restore Japan's fiscal health, the sources said. ---------- N. Korea to quarantine all arriving foreigners over Ebola fears BEIJING - North Korea has decided to quarantine all foreigners arriving in the country for 21 days as part of efforts to block entry of the Ebola virus, diplomats with knowledge of the situation said Friday. The three-week quarantine for all foreign nationals, regardless of their status and point of origin, comes after North Korea last week stopped accepting foreign tourists and decided to place all people traveling from Ebola-hit areas in mandatory quarantine upon their arrival, without specifying how long the measures would last. One of the diplomats said his mission in Pyongyang received the notice on the latest step Thursday. Embassies and international organizations in Pyongyang have suspended all visits from abroad, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding it is unknown how long the quarantine policy will be in force. ---------- Australia, N.Z., Japan vessels to mark centenary of WWI troop departure SYDNEY - Australian, Japanese and New Zealand vessels arrived in Western Australia on Friday for a three-day commemorative event, marking a century since Australian and New Zealand forces departed Australian shores to fight in World War I. Four Australian ships, HMAS Anzac, HMAS Arunta, HMAS Sirius and HMAS Stuart, and one submarine HMAS Rankin, along with New Zealand frigate HMNZS Te Kaha and the destroyer Kirisame of the Japan Self- Defense Forces are anchored in the southern town of Albany in preparation for a commemorative convoy departure to take place on Saturday. The departure will involve the seven vessels sailing in a loop before two vessels break off on a separate route and is designed to mirror the departure of a 36-ship convoy with three escorting cruisers that departed the same shores a century earlier carrying Australian and New Zealand troops to fight in WWI. ---------- MH370 passenger's sons file suit against Malaysia Airlines KUALA LUMPUR - Two sons of a passenger on missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 filed a suit Friday against the airline and four other entities for breach of duty in causing the disappearance of the Boeing 777. In what is believed to be the first lawsuit filed in Malaysia by next of kin of an MH370 passenger, the boys, Jee Kingson, 13 and Jee Kinnland, 11, are seeking damages for "injured feelings and emotions, mental distress and pain" as well as the loss of support after the plane with their father Jee Jing Hang and 238 others disappeared from radar March 8 and has yet to be found. The boys accuse Malaysia Airlines for breach of contract because their father expected a safe flight when he bought the ticket to Beijing. ---------- Japan minister to explain nuclear plant restart policy in Kagoshima TOKYO - Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa said Friday he will visit Kagoshima Prefecture on Monday to explain to local leaders the central government's plan to restart a nuclear plant in the southwestern Japan prefecture. He made the remark as Kagoshima Gov. Yuichiro Ito asked the minister in Tokyo to explain the government's policy in the prefecture, amid final arrangements for Kyushu Electric Power Co. to resume operation of its Sendai nuclear plant in the city of Satsumasendai. Miyazawa plans to meet with representatives of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly and inspect the Sendai plant, which is expected to be the first facility to be brought back online under new safety regulations adopted after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. ---------- TEPCO logs April-Sept. group net profit of 290 bil. yen TOKYO - Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday reported a group net profit of 290.15 billion yen for the first half of fiscal 2014 ending March, due partly to cost-cutting efforts despite its nuclear reactors remaining offline. The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant also attributed the profit to postponing repair work at power stations, although the figure was down 52.9 percent from a year earlier. For the six-month period through September, TEPCO, which was de facto nationalized following the 2011 nuclear crisis, booked a consolidated operating profit of 283.30 billion yen, up 69.4 percent, and sales of 3.33 trillion yen, up 3.7 percent. ---------- Panasonic raises group profit outlook for FY 2014 TOKYO - Panasonic Corp. on Friday lifted its group net and operating profit projections for the current business year through March, reflecting the favorable solar power generation business and positive effects of restructuring. For fiscal 2014, it now expects to book a group net profit of 175 billion yen, up 45.3 percent from the previous year, and operating profit of 350 billion yen, up 14.7 percent, on group sales of 7.75 trillion yen, up 0.2 percent. With the upgrading, the Japanese electronics company is projected to achieve its medium-term operating profit target of 350 billion yen one year ahead of schedule, reflecting "steady improvement of earnings," said President Kazuhiro Tsuga. ---------- Sony posts wider 1st-half net loss on mobile business slump TOKYO - Sony Corp. on Friday reported a far wider first-half group net loss, as its struggling mobile phone business bit into the bottom line. The beleaguered Japanese electronics giant posted a net loss of 109.16 billion yen for the six months to Sept. 30, compared to a loss of 16.50 billion yen in the same period last year. It logged a group operating loss of 15.77 billion yen, compared to a profit of 49.43 billion yen a year earlier, on sales of 3.71 trillion yen, up 6.5 percent. Its mobile communications division posted an operating loss of 172 billion yen in the July-September quarter due to an asset impairment charge of 176 billion yen to reform its smartphone operations, which have been hurt by harsh competition with price-competitive Chinese rivals. ---------- Nikkei ends at 7-year high, dollar jumps to mid-111 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 jumped to the mid-111 yen zone. At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 111.22-23 yen compared with 109.17-27 yen in New York late Thursday afternoon. It moved between 109.18 yen and 111.52 yen during the day. The dollar last traded above 111 yen in January 2008. The euro was quoted at $1.2568-2570 and 139.78-82 yen against $1.2608-2618 and 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, then rain; Nagoya=rain; Sapporo=cloudy, then occasionally rain; Sendai=cloudy, then occasionally rain; Niigata=cloudy, then occasionally rain; Hiroshima=cloudy, occasionally rain; Takamatsu=cloudy, occasionally rain: Fukuoka=rain, then cloudy; Naha=fair, occasionally cloudy. (c) 2014 Kyodo News |