Japan Financial News

China of a potential «middle-technology trap» unless it opens doors «wide open» for new investments and scientific innovation to deal with increasing containment in the ongoing tech war with the US. «China's manufacturing sector is still in the downstream of the global value chain, and it faces a risk of being hamstrung at the low and mid-end by developed countries such as the United States, Germany and Japan,» the Chinese Academy of Sciences said in its latest report released during the weekend.

TOKYO—When Keiko Takemiya made her manga debut in 1968, her publisher told her that her original drawings for the comic books could be thrown out. She insisted on getting them back, stamping “Please return this to me" on each page. More than half a century later, she has a collection of 26,000 drawings from the 180 manga titles she has published, including pioneering works in the genre of manga for girls.

HONG KONG—The retail world used to cater to Chinese tourists. Luxury shops opened wherever they went, and Parisian department stores hired Mandarin speakers. Mom-and-pop stores in Hong Kong were replaced by vendors offering products Chinese tourists demanded, such as milk powder and medicines.

BEIJING (Reuters) -Nissan Motor said on Sunday it would establish a joint research centre with China's leading Tsinghua University next year, focussing on research and development of electric vehicles (EVs), including charging infrastructure and battery recycling.

(Reuters) — A U.S. auto safety regulator said on Friday it will open an investigation into about 454,840 Nissan (OTC:NSANY) vehicles over reports alleging engine failure that can lead to a loss of motive power with no ability to re-start.

FIFA Club World Cup 2023 is here and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City will be eyeing to lift the silverware for the first time in Saudi Arabia. If successful, Manchester City could join the ranks of the four Premier League teams that have clinched victory in the tournament. Additionally, Guardiola is aiming for his fourth Club World Cup title, a feat achieved with a third different team, having previously won twice with Barcelona and once with Bayern Munich.

Once the intial shock wore off on the price tag of Shohei Ohtani’s record-shattering $700 million, 10-year deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, details about the contract emerged that were nearly as stunning

Williams pushed back against the market's rate cut expectations, though the index remained on track for its worst weekly performance in a month. The dollar tumbled broadly after updated interest rate projections of Fed officials released on Wednesday showed an expectation for 75 basis points in cuts in 2024. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell was also interpreted as striking a more dovish tone at the conclusion of the U.S. central bank's two day meeting, when he said that the tightening of monetary policy is likely over, with a discussion of cuts coming «into view.» But Williams said on Friday that «we aren't really talking about rate cuts right now» at the Fed and it's «premature» to speculate about them. «It strikes some of the similar tones that we heard from Powell earlier this week but it kind of reinforces the fact that the Fed is still very much a data dependent bank and not really endorsing what the market's pricing in to a degree,» said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto. Rai also noted that a large part of the move in the dollar this week has been due to rebalancing positions that were heavily tilted towards the greenback and focused in specific currency pairs, such as against the Japanese yen. «This is a story about the inordinate amount of leverage and skewed positioning in the market that needed to be rebalanced more than any sort of dovish interpretation of what Powell said earlier this week,» he said. Traders are pricing in aggressive expectations for rate cuts, with the first reduction seen likely in March and 145 basis points in cuts seen by December. The dollar index was last up 0.39% on the day at 102.35.

By Aditya Kalra, Munsif Vengattil and Arpan Chaturvedi

By Amanda Cooper

California-based Rocket Lab has launched a Japanese satellite from the space company's complex on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula

By Tetsushi Kajimoto

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland

TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan's core consumer inflation was expected to ease in November, slowing down to the level seen in mid-2022, partly as energy price gains weakened, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

Investing.com-- Most Asian currencies steadied after a recent rally on Friday, while the dollar languished at four-month lows as traders positioned for deeper-than-expected interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve in 2024.

2024 after a dismal showing for IPOs this year, noting that interest rates have stabilised globally but they add that elections across the region and in the U.S. could crimp demand. High interest rates, sticky inflation and geopolitical tensions have seen share sales by Asia Pacific (including Japanese) companies sink by a fifth in value so far this year to $229 billion, LSEG data shows.

Yellen said former President Donald Trump's policies toward China left America «more vulnerable and more isolated» in the global economy, a rare jab by her at the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Yellen, at a US-China Business Council event Thursday night, said the Trump administration «failed to make investments at home in critical areas like infrastructure and advanced technology, while also neglecting relationships with our partners and allies that had been forged and strengthened over decades.» Her comments come as the US rebuilds its relationship with the Asian superpower, including a November meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco. The two nations agreed to curb the production of illicit fentanyl, a deadly component of drugs sold in the United States, and agreed to resume military-to-military communications.

By Stella Qiu

By Karen Brettell and Samuel Indyk

By Jamie McGeever

Narendra Modi as the Chief Guest for 26 January Republic Day parade. However, the US President will not travel to India next month owing to a “tight political calendar", US officials have said. The news comes a day after the House authorized the impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, with every Republican rallying behind the politically charged process despite lingering concerns among some in the party that the investigation has yet to produce evidence of misconduct by the president.