Nidec Corp will release a plan this week to get its business back on track, people familiar with the matter say, after an accounting scandal that has put the company at risk of delisting and caused its debt to be downgraded to junk status, Bloomberg News reported. The plan will be announced as soon as Wednesday and will include revisions to past financial results, more details on how the issues came to light and the steps that will be taken to prevent a repeat, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public.
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Global markets shifted abruptly into a defensive posture this week, with U.S. equities dropping over 2% amid a dual shock of fiscal instability in Japan and renewed trade war tensions between the U.S. and Europe, according to a market commentary published by QCP on Wednesday, Blockspace reported. Bitcoin has fallen below $90,000, failing to hold its recent reclamation of the $97,000 level as the cryptocurrency struggles to find footing.
Japan’s government bond market jolted global finance this week after yields jumped fast, forcing officials to step in, 99Bitcoins reported. U.S. Treasuries wobbled in response, while Bitcoin hovered near recent ranges as traders paused. This fits a bigger macro story where bond stress, central banks and risk assets keep colliding. For crypto beginners, this sounds distant. It isn’t. Bond markets sit under everything, including Bitcoin. Japanese government bonds are IOUs backed by the world’s third-largest economy. When investors sell them hard, yields rise.
Japan's manufacturing activity expanded in January for the first time in seven months, buoyed by the biggest rise in new export orders in more than four years, a private-sector survey showed, Reuters reported. The S&P Global flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) increased to 51.5 in January from December's final reading of 50.0, marking a return to expansionary territory for the first time since June 2025. Readings above 50.0 indicate growth in activity, while those below point to a contraction.
Japan's exports rose for a fourth straight month in December, government data showed on Thursday, as slower shipments to the U.S. were offset by strong demand elsewhere as well as by a boost to sales from the yen's decline, Reuters reported. Total exports by value rose 5.1% year-on-year in, data showed, less than a median market forecast for a 6.1% increase and after a 6.1% rise in November. Exports to the U.S. fell 11.1% in December from a year earlier, while those to China were up 5.6%, the data showed.
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75% after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting on Friday, FXStreet reported. The central bank raised rates to a three-decade high in December. A pause now would allow policymakers to assess the economic impact of that move before tightening further. BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda is expected to reaffirm the bank’s commitment to gradual policy normalization. Investors will closely scrutinize his press conference for clues on the timing and pace of future rate hikes.
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The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan surpassed 10,000 for the second year in a row in 2025 as smaller businesses were hard hit by soaring labor costs and surging prices, Tokyo Shoko Research, a credit research firm, said on Monday, the Japan Times reported. The survey showed that the number of business failures with liabilities of ¥10 million or more grew 2.9% from the previous year to 10,300 in 2025, rising for the fourth consecutive year. Total liabilities left by failed companies dropped 32% to ¥1,592.3 billion.
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Japan's plan to give authorities the power to order foreign investors to retroactively divest acquisitions is aimed at sheltering major firms and supply chains, though it is unlikely to curtail increased M&A interest, experts say, Reuters reported. Japan on Wednesday proposed amendments to its foreign investment screening law that would grant authorities an option to force foreigners to sell investments deemed to pose risks to national or economic security.
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Bankers expect another blockbuster year for sales of yen-denominated corporate debt from Japanese companies following the record tally of bonds issued in 2025.
Rising yields and lower volatility compared with government bonds saw investors snap up ¥16.5 trillion ($105 billion) of local-currency corporate debt in the 12 months through December, the most in records back to 1999, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
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