Japan Financial News

Kwatra is here this week for a series of meetings with senior officials from the US Government and interaction with industry leaders to advance bilateral cooperation in areas like defence and technology. Kwatra held separate meetings with Richard Verma, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources and Kurt Campbell, Deputy Secretary of State at the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the State Department. «Productive catch up with Indian Foreign Secretary Kwatra on advancing ongoing US-India cooperation and the need for our countries' close partnership for regional security and prosperity,» Verma said in a post of X. Earlier in the day, Kwatra was hosted by the US India Business Council over a breakfast meeting with its Board Chair and NASDAQ Executive Vice Chairman Ed Knight.

Tesla gets ready to import German-made EVs to India Stellantis, which was formed after the merger of Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French PSA Group, currently sells its Jeep and Citroen brands in India. "It is also important for us as a player in the Indian automotive space to be competitive. We want to leverage India as a 'best cost country', which is what we call 'India for the world," Stellantis India CEO & MD Aditya Jairaj said.

Suzuki said authorities were analysing not just recent yen declines but factors that are driving the moves, and repeated that Tokyo stood ready to respond to any excessive currency swings. Suzuki said finance leaders from the Group of 20 major economies, who will meet in Washington D.C. next week on the sidelines of the spring International Monetary Fund (IMF) gatherings, may discuss currency moves as part of topics for debate.

Sensex surged 354.45 points, or 0.47%, to close at 75,038.15, while the Nifty 50 settled 111.05 points, or 0.49%, higher at 22,753.80. “We expect the ongoing up-move to continue in the market. The broader market too is likely to continue its outperformance along with stock-specific action on the back of strong domestic flows and healthy business updates.

The euro was eyeing its sharpest weekly fall in about four months, pressured in part by a resurgent greenback and expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) could begin easing rates in June, likely ahead of the Federal Reserve.

Joe Biden and Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unveiled a wide range of agreements to enhance security and economic ties during meetings held at the White House this week. Here are some of the most notable:

yen after the currency slumped to its weakest level against the dollar since 1990. Following weeks of flirting with the closely watched 152 level versus the greenback, the yen blew straight through this mark on Wednesday and all the way to 153 as US inflation data reverberated through global markets.

Biden said Thursday that U.S. defense commitment to Pacific allies was «ironclad» as he gathered Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House in the midst of growing concern about provocative Chinese military action in the Indo-Pacific. The U.S. and the Philippines have had a mutual treaty in place for more than 70 years. Biden's forceful reinforcement of the American commitment comes in the midst of persistent skirmishes between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards in the disputed South China Sea. «The United States defense commitments to Japan and to the Philippines are ironclad. They're ironclad,» Biden said as he began three-way talks at the White House with Kishida and Marcos. «As I said before, any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels or armed forces in the South China Sea would invoke our mutual defense treaty.»

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery fell $1.19 to $85.02 per barrel Thursday

A subsidiary of Japanese-based Fujifilm Corp. plans to expand further a massive biopharmaceutical manufacturing plant in the state, even as the initial phase is yet complete

Kaiju No. 8 adaptation is set to premiere. Here's everything you need to know about watching the series, based on the popular Shonen Jump manga by Naoya Matsumoto. Plot

The European Central Bank has opened the door for an interest rate cut as early as its June meeting

Kishida cracked jokes and invoked a touchstone of American culture as he quoted from «Star Trek» at Wednesday's state dinner, telling guests at the White House that he hoped the «unshakable relationship» between his country and the U.S. would «boldly go where no one had gone before.» «I would like to propose a toast to our voyage to the frontier of the Japan-U.S. relationship with this word: boldly go,» Kishida said, quoting the iconic opening monologue of the original «Star Trek» series.

Blitz Bazawule to direct its next feature film 'Black Samurai', exploring the life of the legendary Yasuke, an African warrior who became the first Black samurai, reports 'Collider'. Best known for directing the musical adaptation of 'The Color Purple', he made his directorial debut in 2018 with 'The Burial of Kojo'. Besides, Bazawule has also helmed episodes of Ava DuVernay’s 'Cherish the Day' and worked with Beyonce on her visual album 'Black Is King'.

Fermi Paradox have stated that the contradiction between the high probability of alien life existing and the complete lack of evidence for it, may have been tied to the AI development among human on Earth. According to a report published by Michael Garrett, it is suggested that AI's evolution into Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI) could be the ‘Great Filter’, keeping alien evidence away. The Great Filter theory says that a hurdle that intelligent life must overcome to become advanced and interstellar.

yen is at three-decade lows and under enough pressure to prompt strong official warnings of intervention to prop it up. The yen has fallen despite Japan's first interest rate hike since 2007 and optimism about the economy. It traded at 153.24 per dollar on April 10, its weakest since 1990 and in real terms it is at its weakest since at least the 1970s.

Fed starting its rate-cutting cycle in June, while the yen languished at the levels last seen in the middle of 1990. The yen's slide to a 34-year low of 153.24 per U.S. dollar on Wednesday brought intervention fears back as authorities in Tokyo reiterated that they would not rule out any steps to deal with excessive swings.

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose 98 cents to $86.21 per barrel Wednesday

Brazil’s government has extended exemptions to tourist visa requirements for citizens of the U.S., Australia and Canada until April 2025, extending a program aimed at boosting tourism that had been scheduled to end Wednesday

Invesco, which oversees investments of about Rs 86,000 crore in India, has signed an option deal to sell its remaining 40% stake in the local mutual fund business to Hinduja Group-owned IndusInd International Holdings (IIHL) as part of a broader plan to exit an increasingly competitive geography for foreign players, two people familiar with the deal said. On Tuesday, it announced the sale of a 60% stake in Invesco Asset Management India to IIHL. Invesco AMC Valuation at Rs 2,500 cr

US economy is on track for a soft landing, but there are plenty of risks that could change the trajectory. “We like taking profits on technology and moving toward other sectors," the official told Bloomberg in an interview. In the tech industry, “the risk-reward profile is skewed to the downside," she added.