Destroyed buildings in Gaza on Thursday amid ongoing battles between Israeli forces and the Hamas militant group.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 10, 2023
Why are oil prices falling while war rages in the Middle East?
Intense fighting is underway in a region that holds much of the world’s petroleum resources. Yet, energy markets have been slumping.
Buildings in Pudong's Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai. China's yuan weakened past the closely watched 7.2-per-dollar level as investor sentiment soured on a lack of aggressive stimulus and Beijing signaled a level of comfort about the declines.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 9, 2023
China is struggling woo back foreign investors
The lack of investment among global firms in China may have far reaching effects on the world’s second-largest economy.
Trading with borrowed shares will be banned for equities on the Kospi 200 Index and Kosdaq 150 Index from Monday until the end of June.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 5, 2023
South Korea to ban short-selling of stocks until June 2024
Investors say short-selling leads to unfair advantages for foreign and institutional investors.
A stock board in Beijing last month. China’s benchmark CSI 300 has slumped 7.4% as a faltering economy dashed optimism over the nation’s reopening from COVID-19 restrictions.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 4, 2023
Japan’s fading rally drives some investors to cheap China shares
Japanese stocks have trounced their Chinese peers this year, but some investors are betting the tide is about to turn.
The world's largest pension fund lost 0.31% for the three months from July to September, trimming its overall assets to ¥219.3 trillion.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 2, 2023
Japan's GPIF reports ¥683 billion loss in July-September period
The news comes as a policy tweak by the central bank hits the government bond market.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda in a news conference on Tuesday, when the central bank adjusted its cap on bond yields.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 2, 2023
Japan's yen and bond priorities at odds as market pressure grows
Unscheduled bond purchases by the Bank of Japan Wednesday worked directly against Finance Ministry efforts to support the yen.
Nippon Life Insurance will focus purchases on 30-year JGBs, with the current yield of above 1.8% "good in terms of absolute level," a representative for the insurer said at a recent briefing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 27, 2023
Japan's life insurers to boost JGB buying but wary of policy shift
Nippon Life, Dai-Ichi Life and Meiji Yasuda Life were among those who said they aimed to buy the longest-dated JGBs amid the highest yields in a decade.

Longform

Yoshiko Koide sits in a classroom at Nagoya College where she teaches a Japanese-language observation seminar.
How a dictionary came to spark outrage among the web’s otaku