The Japanese yen has dipped against the US dollar today, raising suspicion that Japan has again taken action to weaken its currency. Last Wednesday, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) intervened to stem its currency – which hit a fresh 15-year high against the dollar. It was the first time in six years that such action [...]
For the first time in six years, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has taken action to stem its currency – which has been rising against the US dollar. Yesterday, the yen hit a fresh 15-year high against the dollar after Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, won a ruling party leadership vote, defeating Ichiro Ozawa. The currency [...]
The Japanese yen has hit a fresh 15-year high against the US dollar today after Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, won a ruling party leadership vote, defeating Ichiro Ozawa. The currency has been rising against the dollar over recent weeks but a stronger yen has meant demand for exports has weakened – fuelling concerns for the [...]
The Japanese Government has today said it believes its economy expanded more than originally thought in the April to June quarter. It believes the economy grew by an annualised 1.5% in the three-month period – much higher than the first official estimate of 0.4%. Cabinet Office Parliamentary Secretary, Keisuke Tsumura, said Japan’s economy was “continuing [...]
Bank of Japan (BoJ) has announced new measures aimed at enhancing “easy monetary conditions” and holding back the rise in the value of the yen. Following an unscheduled meeting of its Monetary Policy committee, the Bank is to provide the country’s lenders with and additional 10 trillion yen in six-months funds, in a move that [...]
Global stock markets have lost ground today after worse-than-expected weekly jobless numbers from the US yesterday. Furthermore, Tokyo shares were down as speculation mounted that the Bank of Japan would hold an emergency meeting to discuss the strength of its currency, the yen. The yen has hit a 15-month high against the dollar – fuelling [...]
Official figures have today revealed Japanese economic growth slowed in the April to June period, as widely expected. The economy expanded by just 0.1% in the three month period – far less than expected by analysts. Meanwhile, on an annual basis, the economy grew by 0.4% in the quarter, down from a revised 4.4% in [...]
Official figures out tomorrow are expected to reveal growth in the world’s number two economy slowed in the April to June period. Japan fell into a severe recession following the global financial crisis but was one of the first major economies to emerge from recession – in the second quarter of 2009 – boosted by [...]
The euro has fallen against the US dollar and the Japanese yen after Germany banned risky bets on bonds, stocks and credit protection, until March next year. The ban, imposed by the German Government, will apply to the country’s 10 most important financial institutions, and is designed to stop the short-selling of euro Government bonds. [...]
Naoto Kan, Japan’s newly appointed finance minister, is calling for a weaker yen after the Japanese currency continues to gain strength against the US dollar. While a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports less competitive – but means imports are more affordable to Japanese consumers. Exports are a key [...]
Official figures published yesterday revealed Japan’s factory output rose for the ninth consecutive month in November. Factory output was up by 2.6% in the month and was slightly above analysts expectations of a 2.5% rise. The rise extended the longest unbroken growth since a 12-month rise to March 1997 and was attributed to growing overseas [...]
In order to prevent the world’s second largest economy falling back into recession, Japan’s Government is to pump a further 7.2 trillion yen ($81 billion; £48 billion) into the economy. Japan’s economy emerged from recession in the second quarter of 2009 and also experienced positive growth in the third quarter. However, there have been fears [...]
The price of gold has ended its run of all-time highs after positive economic US data sent the dollar higher. On Friday, the Labor Department revealed that the US economy lost fewer jobs in November with the unemployment rate falling to 10% from a rate of 10.2% in October. Figures show that US employers cut [...]
The US dollar continued its slide today against the Japanese yen, falling to a 14-year low. The greenback dipped to 84 yen – its lowest level since 1995, due in part to the Federal Reserve indicating that US interest rates will remain low. Earlier this week, Yutaka Miura at Mizuho Securities said: “This yen strengthening [...]
Historically low interest rates in the US is making the dollar unappealing to investors sending the US currency to a 14-year low against the Japanese yen. The greenback has dipped to 86.5 yen – its lowest level since July 7, 1995, due in part to the Federal Reserve indicating that US interest rates will remain [...]
There are fears of long-term deflation in the world’s second largest economy after official figures revealed August core consumer prices fell at a record rate of 2.4% compared with a year ago. It was the fourth consecutive month of record falls and the figures have raised fears that the economy could see a long period [...]
The yen hit 88.23 against the dollar today – the highest level since January when the currency hit a 13-year high of 87.10 per dollar. However, while a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports less competitive – but means imports are more affordable to Japanese consumers. Earlier this month, [...]
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has elected to keep interest rates on hold at 0.1% and said it’s possible that a stronger yen will support the economy in the long-term. Since June, the yen has climbed 6.7% against the dollar. Following the two day policy meeting, the central bank also upgraded its assessment of the [...]
Stockmarkets have been hit today by the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico sending airline and travel stocks plummeting while pharmaceutical companies including GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Shire and Smith & Nephew have soared. In London, the FTSE 100 index was down 60 points in early trading with the biggest losers including TUI, British Airways and Thomas [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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Japanese yen falls after Minister’s comments
Last week, the US dollar continued its fall against the Japanese yen, sliding to a 14-year low. The falls led to Japan’s finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, to say that the Government is monitoring the yen but did not suggest immediate intervention. While a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports [...]