Bank Of Japan

Japan's central bank on Friday raised the benchmark interest rate to 1.25 per cent from 1.0 per cent, a 31-year-high. The move Friday, coming at the end of the two-day monetary policy board meeting, was expected, widely figured into recent global markets. The raise by 0.25 percentage points to the policy rate comes after the Federal Reserve also raised its key rate this week. Pressures have been coming from the US for Japan to raise rates because of concerns about the weakening yen. The nations intervened together recently to prop up the yen. The US dollar is trading at about 155 yen.

Global uncertainty and interest rates may remain elevated

The yen fell to its lowest level in nearly 40 years against the US dollar, prompting Japan and the US to jointly intervene in currency markets

In a widely expected move, the BOJ decided to raise its short-term policy rate to 1 per cent from 0.75 per cent, taking borrowing costs to levels unseen since 1995

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.12 per cent, hovering near the record high it touched on Monday

Interest-rate bets that fully anticipated easing in the US have eroded, while possible hikes in the UK and euro zone later in the year are now being priced in

Chinese markets also saw moderate gains as the Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 0.3 per cent to 26,718.13, while the Shanghai Composite index also was up 0.3 per cent, at 4,133.58

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Japan's the Nikkei 225 and the South Korea's KOSPI were the biggest laggard in the MSCI AC Asia Pacific index. Both the indices fell over 1 per cent on Thursday.

Upon winning the race, Takaichi made clear the government will take the lead in setting fiscal and monetary policy - and that her priority would be to reflate demand

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MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 per cent on Friday but is still set for a weekly rise of 0.5 per cent, hovering not far from its four-year tops

Capex on goods excluding software gained for a fifth consecutive quarter in the three months through June, but pace of increase decelerated sharply to 0.2 per cent from 2 per cent in previous period

The assessment, to be included in its quarterly outlook report due on May 1, will underscore the BOJ's desire to keep alive market expectations of further interest rate hikes

While the BoJ statement did not make direct mention of higher US tariffs, it warned that "some firms voiced concern over the impact on output and profits" from US trade uncertainty

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With President Donald Trump's so-called Liberation Day of tariff implementation fast approaching, Senate Democrats are putting Republican support for some of those plans to the test by forcing a vote to nullify the emergency declaration that underpins the tariffs on Canada. Republicans have watched with some unease as the president's attempts to remake global trade have sent the stock market downward, but they have so far stood by Trump's on-again-off-again threats to levy taxes on imported goods. Even as the resolution from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia offered them a potential off-ramp to the tariffs levied on Canadian imports, Republican leaders were trying to keep senators in line by focusing on fentanyl that comes into the U.S. over its northern border. It was yet another example of how Trump is not only reorienting global economics, but upending his party's longtime support for ideas like free trade. I really relish giving my Republican colleagues the chance to not jus

According to a study, Japan's tourism boom is at risk as severe labour shortages hit the hospitality sector

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This has cemented the case for more rate hikes from the Bank of Japan this year. Markets are now pricing in roughly another 37 basis points worth of increases by December