Japan Financial News

TSMC, which is making an unprecedented push into chip manufacturing overseas, is taking an increasingly optimistic view of Japan as a production base, two industry sources said, as problems persist at its new factory in Arizona. TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is frustrated in Arizona, the sources said, where it has struggled to recruit workers for the gruelling chipmaking trade and faced pushback from unions on efforts to bring in workers from Taiwan.

dollar was broadly steady on Wednesday ahead of a key U.S. inflation report later in the day, though it rose on the yen as traders assessed comments from Japan's top central banker on a possible early exit from its negative interest rate policy. The U.S.

inflation data on Wednesday, while an oil price spike stoked anxiety about persistent price pressures, complicating the interest rate outlook. The euro edged higher and markets moved to favour a hike from Europe's central bank on Thursday, following a Reuters report that the European Central Bank (ECB) expects inflation will stay above 3% next year in its updated forecasts, well above its target of 2%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat while Tokyo's Nikkei eased 0.2%. Australia's resource-heavy shares lost 0.7%, Chinese blue-chips were flat but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index moved 0.6% higher. At the forefront of markets' minds is the crucial U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) report expected on Wednesday, which should shed further light on the inflation outlook and provide some clarity about whether the Federal Reserve is done tightening. While core CPI is seen cooling to 4.3% year-on-year in August from 4.7%, rising energy costs are forecast to keep headline inflation hot.

wholesale inflation slowed in August for the eighth straight month, data showed on Wednesday, offering some relief for households and retailers hit by past sharp rises in raw material imports. The corporate goods price index (CGPI), which measures the price companies charge each other for their goods and services, rose 3.2% in August from a year earlier, matching a median market forecast. It slowed from a revised 3.4% rise in July, and is now off a peak 10.6% year-on-year surge hit in December last year, data by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) showed. «While crude oil prices remain high and yen falls continue, wholesale inflation is slowing… and could post a year-on-year decline in the fourth quarter,» said Toru Suehiro, an economist at Daiwa Securities. «The price declines seen for some goods can't be ignored» as it could affect households' perception of future price moves, he added. Rising wholesale prices, driven by last year's surge in global commodity costs and the weak yen, have pushed up Japan's broader consumer inflation by prodding many firms to charge households more for their goods. While consumer inflation has remained above the BOJ's 2% target for more than a year, the central bank has stressed the need to keep ultra-loose monetary policy until such supply-driven rise in prices is replaced by an increase backed by domestic demand.

Indian stock market is expected to open on a cautious note Wednesday tracking mixed cues from global peers. The Asian markets traded mixed, while the US stock market ended lower overnight dragged by weakness in tech stocks. Investors’ sentiment may dampen as a surge in crude oil prices, with Brent oil trading above $92 a barrel, is expected to stoke inflation fears ahead of US inflation data.

Bloomberg. However, no time or venue has been announced by either side for the summit. Some media reports suggested that Putin may soon visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome space center in the Amur region, fueling speculation this could be the summit site.

«Overall, we expect the focus to shift from mid and small caps to large caps in the near term, as investors may turn cautious on the broader market,» said Siddhartha Khemka, Head — Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. Here's breaking down the pre-market actions:STATE OF THE MARKETSGIFT Nifty (Earlier SGX Nifty) signals a positive startGIFT Nifty on the NSE IX traded 43.5 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 20,073.50, signaling that Dalal Street was headed for positive start on Wednesday.

G20 summit was the 'value' of the India stake in foreign policies of other countries. For that alone, countries made compromises, thus ensuring a successful summit for India. So, what is the India stake? Put simply, almost all G20 countries want to invest in their relationship with India for long term.

By Rajesh Kumar Singh, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Valerie Insinna

trade deal, namely the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), considered the world’s largest free trade bloc, covering around 30% of the world’s population, gross domestic product (GDP) and trade. The RCEP came into full force on 2 June.

The strong flows into equity funds marked a turnaround from two consecutive months of net outflows in May (£992m) and June (£1.2bn).

TOKYO—A Chinese aircraft carrier and around two dozen other Chinese warships were gathering in the western Pacific, according to authorities in Taiwan and Japan, an unusually large group suggesting Beijing may be planning major naval exercises. The movement follows a flurry of U.S. military activity in the region, and comes as efforts by Washington and Beijing to improve relations appear to have lost momentum.

Chevron and the Offshore Alliance of trade unions have been sent back to mediation ahead of a full bench hearing of the Fair Work Commission set for September 22 in a last-ditch effort to resolve the protracted industrial dispute that is threatening Australia’s LNG exports.

North Korea, Russia, and China on one side against South Korea, Japan, and the United States. In case North Korea chooses to supply arms to Russia, the already heavy Western sanctions against the country can intensify. The experts claim that Russia has everything, the troubled North Korean economy demands.

Shuntaro Shimizu (pictured) joins AVI after three years at Bain & Company.

Asian shares are trading mixed following a Big Tech rally on Wall Street, as investors watch for an update on U.S. consumer prices set for later in the week

By Samuel Indyk and Rae Wee

By Yoshifumi Takemoto and Leika Kihara

Kim Jong-un embarked on a rare journey to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He arrived in Russia aboard a distinctive bulletproof train known for its opulence.

Several major Japanese companies have decided to stop using stars represented by Johnny & Associates, an entertainment company at the center of a sexual assault scandal

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed