Economy

Asian shares rose on Friday while the yen was aiming for its best week in four months as strong inflation data from Tokyo had traders favouring an imminent rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

The Bank of Korea cut benchmark interest rates for a second straight meeting to 3.00%, an outcome only four of 38 economists polled by Reuters foresaw. The bank’s seven-member board voted five-two for the cut.

Sri Lanka’s central bank set a new single policy rate of 8% on Wednesday, easing monetary settings below previously used benchmarks, in an effort to shore up the island nation’s fragile recovery from a deep financial crisis.

Trends in the U.S. economy can have a direct or indirect impact on the Japanese economy, and we also need to be aware of the possibility of an impact through fluctuations in financial and capital markets,” a Cabinet Office official said upon the release of the monthly economic report for November.

Australia’s employment growth slowed in October after a strong run, but the jobless rate has stayed low and underlying trends remain relatively healthy, suggesting there is little rush to cut interest rates.

The governor of Texas ordered state agencies to stop investing in China and sell assets there as soon as possible, citing financial and security risks, a sign of rising U.S.-China tensions starting to impact global capital flows.

Japan is considering spending 13.9 trillion yen ($89.7 billion) from its general account to fund a new stimulus package aimed at mitigating the impact of rising prices on households, according to a government document reviewed by Reuters on Thursday.

While the annual headline figure is still some way below the 11% it peaked at two years ago after the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the fact that it has aggressively risen above the Bank of England’s 2% medium-term target could prove problematic for the central bank given the hefty public spending increases in the…

China is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rates unchanged on Wednesday, a Reuters poll showed, as rate cuts a month earlier squeeze banks’ profitability and the yuan comes under fresh pressure as Donald Trump returns to the White House.

The start of IRS transactions follows the recognition by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association of the benchmark – the overnight reference rate (ORR) – which the Bankers Association of the Philippines helped establish.