Japan
Japan rice crisis shows signs of easing as prices stabilize and stocks return to shelves
A worker puts konbu sea weed on rice on the riceball production line at the processing factory of Fuji Foods Co., in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan, on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024. Riceballs are one of the 7-Eleven Japan’s most important products, with more than 2 billion sold each year. Photographer: Noriko Hayashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images Bloomberg […]
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Asia-Pacific markets set to trade mixed as Middle East tensions appear to ease
A HDR evening shot taken at sunset of the Tokyo skyline. Fgm | E+ | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were set to open mixed Thursday, as investors continued to weigh the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open higher, with the futures contract in Chicago at 39,055 while […]
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Japan’s inflation has been above target for over 3 years, but where is the BOJ?
Customers check out vegetables and other groceries at a supermarket in Tokyo on June 20, 2025. Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images Major central banks have hiked their policy rates in the face of surging inflation since the Covid-19 pandemic — but the Bank of Japan has been an outlier. It has stayed put […]
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Japan is better prepared than the West for China’s rare-earth mineral squeeze
Bulldozer scoop soil containing various rare earth to be loaded on to a ship at a port in Lianyungang, east China’s Jiangsu province on September 5, 2010, for export to Japan. Str | Afp | Getty Images Japan has been quietly blazing a trail for supply chain resilience. Long before China in early April imposed […]
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CNBC Daily Open: Intensifying Israel-Iran conflict puts investors on shaky ground
A general view of the partially collapsed buildings damaged by some of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran on June 18, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Nir Keidar | Anadolu | Getty Images The conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, with both countries not backing down from strikes and their leaders continuing to issue […]
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CNBC Daily Open: Uncertainty around Israel-Iran conflict put investors on edge
A general view of the partially collapsed buildings damaged by some of the ballistic missiles launched by Iran on June 18, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Nir Keidar | Anadolu | Getty Images The conflict between Israel and Iran is intensifying, with both countries not backing down from strikes and their leaders continuing to issue […]
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Rice prices more than double in May as Japan core inflation jumps to highest levels since 2023
A worker handles sacks of brown rice at a Shinmei Co. plant in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Bags of rice are expected to start filling the shelves of Japan’s supermarkets again soon as farmers harvest their new crop, though the increase in supply will do little to tame higher prices. […]
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Japan plans to cut super-long bond sales by 10% to ease market concerns, Reuters reports
The Otemachi One Tower building in Tokyo, Japan. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Japan’s government plans to cut sales of super-long bonds by about 10% from the original plan in a rare revision to its bond program for the current fiscal year, trimming overall bond issuance as a result, a draft document seen by Reuters showed. The move aims to soothe market concerns over supply-demand imbalances, after weak demand at recent auctions […]
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Asia-Pacific markets trade mixed as investors weigh Fed decision, Middle East conflict
Sydney Harbour and the skyline of the central business district (CBD) in Sydney, Australia, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Thursday, as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates steady, while the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran continues to dent sentiment. […]
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Asia-Pacific stock markets are set to open lower as Iran-Israel conflict dents investor sentiment
View of the Skytree from Ueno and Asakusa in Tokyo Jackal Pan | Moment | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets were set to fall Wednesday, as escalating tensions between Israel and Iran weigh on investor sentiment. Adding fuel to fire, U.S. President Donald Trump is weighing a military strike on Iran, while demanding the country’s leader […]
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