Japan posted its biggest trade surplus in over four years in February, thanks to a strengthening in the yen and weak oil prices, though both imports and exports fell, suggesting persisting slack demand both in Japan and overseas. Preliminary data reported Thursday showed exports fell 4 percent from a year earlier to 5.7 trillion yen ($50.5 billion) in February and imports dropped 14 percent to 5.46 trillion yen ($48.4 billion). The resulting 242.8 billion yen ($2.2 billion) surplus compares with

Stocks, emerging market currencies and oil all rallied in Asia on Thursday after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen lowered her expectations for U.S. interest rate hikes this year.In a statement following the Fed's latest policy meeting, Yellen cited concerns about the impact on the U.S. economy of recent turmoil in global markets, weakness in China and Europe, and the plunge in crude prices.Her comments came after the central bank cut its outlook for U.S. growth for this year and painted a pict

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European Central Bank launched an unexpectedly broad array of stimulus measures Thursday aimed at boosting a modest economic recovery in the 19 countries that use the euro and nudging up dangerously low inflation. The steps, which ranged from interest rate cuts to cheap loans to banks, included several measures many analysts hadn’t anticipated, such as expanding its monthly bond-buying stimulus program to include corporate bonds.The ECB, the monetary authority for the

Asian stocks climbed for the first day this week amid speculation central banks will provide additional stimulus to bolster global economic growth.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 125.57 as of 8:01 p.m. in Hong Kong, halting three days of losses. U.S. shares rebounded with crude oil on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s European Central Bank meeting that may provide more insight on the potential for further steps to loosen policy and the trajectory of interest rates. The Reserve Bank

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) – The European Central Bank has cut all its main interest rates including a surprise reduction in the main refinancing rate to zero percent from 0.05 percent.It also reduced the interest rate on deposits held by banks at the central bank to minus 0.4 percent from minus 0.3 percent.And it expanded its monthly bond-buying program to 80 billion euros ($85 billion) a month from the previous 60 billion.

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Asian investors turned positive again Thursday, extending a global advance, as they turn their attention to a European Central Bank policy meeting later in the day that is expected to see another stimulus push.But while most regional markets are in the ascendancy, Shanghai -- which analysts say has been supported in the past few days by state-backed buying -- was in retreat despite a strong Chinese inflation reading.Confidence across trading floors is broadly upbeat this month

BEIJING (AFP) -- China's consumer inflation jumped to 2.3 percent in February, its highest in nearly two years, official data showed Thursday, in a positive sign for demand in the world’s second-largest economy.Food prices surged during the annual Lunar New Year holiday, with pork prices jumping 25.4 percent year-on-year, and vegetables up a hefty 30.6 percent.The rise in the consumer price index released by the National Bureau of Statistics was the largest since July 2014, and came in ahead of

U.S. workers have been largely insulated from a global slowdown. Job growth remains steady and wages are finally picking up _ trends that will be put to the test in Friday's employment report for February.  Economists have forecast that employers added a solid 195,000 jobs last month, up from the 151,000 added in January, according to data firm FactSet. And the unemployment rate is expected to remain at a low 4.9 percent. Hiring by construction companies, retailers and health care providers have

Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded the credit-rating outlook of China to "negative" from "stable," citing rising government debts, declining foreign-currency reserves and uncertainty about Beijing's reform drive. Weakening trade and manufacturing have fueled concerns about the Chinese economy, which has been struggling with stock market routs and mounting local government debt."China's foreign exchange reserves have fallen markedly over the last 18 months, to US$3.2 trillion in Ja

Derwent London Plc has shelved plans to turn an office building on Savile Row in London’s Mayfair district into 29 luxury apartments after demand was damped when the government raised the sales tax on the most expensive properties.Soaring prices for luxury homes encouraged developers to seek to turn office space into 16,600 new homes in greater London in the two years through May 2015. The higher sales tax has made it more difficult for developers to sell the costliest apartments and is causing

SHANGHAI (AFP) -- The world‘s 20 top economies will use all policy tools available to lift sluggish global growth, they said Saturday, despite German disquiet over fiscal and monetary stimulus.The global recovery was continuing but “remains uneven and falls short of our ambition for strong, sustainable and balanced growth”, the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs said in a communique in Shanghai.They met amid fears driven by slowing growth in host nation China, steep falls in world fin

DUBAI (AP) -- Oil powerhouses Russia and Saudi Arabia joined Qatar and Venezuela in pledging Tuesday to cap their crude output if other producers do the same, aiming to halt a slide that has pushed oil prices to their lowest point in more than a decade. The decision followed an unexpected closed-door meeting involving the four countries in the Qatari capital, Doha, and reflects growing concern among big producers about the effects the slump poses to their domestic economies. Russian Energy Minis

As the Bank of Japan began charging interest Tuesday on some deposits it holds, rates in the nation’s overnight interbank market are hovering around zero while banks try to catch up in setting negative interest rates on their systems.The unsecured overnight call rate fell to zero from the weighted average overnight call rate of 0.074 percent on Monday, according to Central Tanshi Co. “Trading in the unsecured overnight call market is centered around 0.001 percent with some at zero percent,” said

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Japanese investors shrugged off an economic contraction to propel stocks more than 5 percent Monday, leading an Asia recovery after last week's horror show.But Shanghai tumbled on its first day back from the Lunar New Year holiday and after data showed another fall in Chinese exports and imports last month, yet another sign of trouble in the world’s No. 2 economy.The broad gains across the region came after a surge in New York and Europe on Friday fuelled by a rally in oil pri

Japan economy shrinks during Q4TOKYO (AFP) -- Japan’s economy contracted in the last quarter of 2015, official data showed Monday, dealing another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s faltering bid to kick-start the world’s No. 3 economy.Weak consumer spending weighed on the vast economy, which shrank 0.4 percent in the October-December quarter -- or an annualized 1.4 percent drop.That was Japan’s second quarterly contraction in 2015, although gross domestic product ticked up a tepid 0.4 percent