Japan’s exports fell in May as shipments of autos to the U.S. dropped nearly 25% from a year earlier due to higher tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported. Exports fell 1.7% year-on-year, which was less than the decline analysts had forecast, the Finance Ministry reported Wednesday. Imports sank 7.7%, reflecting weakening domestic demand and worse than the 2% fall recorded in April. The trade deficit in May was 637.6 billion yen, or $4.4 billion.
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The Bank of Japan unveiled a plan to step back from the bond market at a slower pace from next year to ensure market stability while sticking to a path of normalization that includes the possibility of more rate hikes, Bloomberg reported. Governor Kazuo Ueda’s policy board stood pat on its benchmark policy rate of 0.5% at the end of a two-day meeting Tuesday. In a widely expected move the central bank said it would ease the pace of its cuts to monthly bond purchases from the next fiscal year to quarterly reductions of ¥200 billion ($1.34 billion) from the current ¥400 billion.
The Bank of Japan on Tuesday left its policy settings unchanged amid ongoing trade uncertainty and announced that it would slow the pace of its bond-buying reduction after April 2026, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Japanese central bank held its policy rate steady at 0.5%, where it has remained since its last hike in January. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda has said the bank will continue to consider further interest rate increases, depending on economic conditions.
The recent bankruptcy of Marelli, a supplier of automotive components, has sent shockwaves through the global automotive industry, MSN.com reported. This event marks one of the first major corporate failures triggered by the new tariffs imposed by Donald Trump's administration. Marelli's collapse directly impacts Stellantis and its renowned brands, including Jeep, Chrysler and Dodge. Marelli, known for its expertise in vehicle lighting and electronic components, had been grappling with financial difficulties for years.
SBI Shinsei Bank, a unit of SBI Holdings plans to file as early as next month for a relisting on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Reuters reported. The bank, which aims to go public again by the end of the year, would follow a series of sizeable listings in Japan over the past year as companies look to capitalise on market momentum that has seen the Nikkei share average trade near record highs. Relisting the mid-sized lender has been a target for Yoshitaka Kitao, the CEO of SBI, a financial conglomerate whose businesses span banking, asset management, technology and cryptocurrency.
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Bank of Japan officials are ramping up calls to keep pace with rapid developments around digital currencies that may accelerate a shift to cashless payments in a country better known for its belief that "cash is king," Reuters reported. Once seen as a society favouring physical currency, Japan saw the ratio of cashless payments rise to 42.8% in 2024, up from 13.2% in 2010 and hitting the government's 40% goal a year earlier than targeted, government data showed.
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Marelli Holdings, a Japanese auto parts supplier owned by private equity firm KKR, is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, Kyodo news agency reported on Saturday, according to Reuters. Marelli, a key supplier to embattled Japanese automaker Nissan Motor, is looking into the chapter 11 option to ensure its business operations won't be halted even if its restructuring talks with creditors fall through.
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The Japanese economy shrank less than initially estimated in the first quarter but remains at risk of technical recession, which could delay the Bank of Japan’s timeline for raising interest rates, the Wall Street Journal reported. Real gross domestic product contracted 0.2% on an annualized basis in the January-March period, government data showed Monday. That compares with the 0.7% decline in the preliminary estimate. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, Japan’s GDP was nearly flat.
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A record number of curry shops in Japan went out of business in the past year, as purveyors of one of the country’s most beloved dishes took a hit from soaring rice prices, Bloomberg News reported. Thirteen curry shops with more than ¥10 million ($70,000) in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year, according to a report from Tokyo-based research firm Teikoku Databank. The total number of bankruptcies is likely to be much higher when considering smaller mom-and-pop shops, the firm said.
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Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said the country's economy can withstand the hit from U.S. tariffs and sustain a cycle of rising inflation accompanied by wage growth, signalling the bank's readiness to raise interest rates further, Reuters reported. Uncertainty over U.S. trade policy and the range of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump's administration could hurt Japan's exports, prod firms to delay capital expenditure plans, and discourage them from raising wages, Ueda said on Tuesday. While an agreement between the U.S.
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