TOKYO / AFP Japan’s central bank chief on Tuesday defended a negative interest rate policy slammed as a desperate bid to keep alive efforts at resuscitating the world’s number three economy. Haruhiko Kuroda’s comments came after the Bank of Japan held off unleashing more stimulus following a two-day meeting, as it gauges the impact of its unprecedented move into sub-zero rates. …

BLOOMBERG FirstRand Ltd. plans to close branches and cut jobs at its South African retail-lending unit as customers switch to digital banking and the continent’s biggest lender by market value responds to an economy on the brink of a recession. Almost 600 positions will be lost at First National Bank, while more than 500 people at the Johannesburg-based company may …

BLOOMBERG Emerging-market currencies weakened for a second day and stocks fell from a 2016 high as sliding oil prices weighed on assets of commodity exporters and growing wagers the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates as soon as the next quarter damped demand for risk. The South African rand and Russia’s ruble depreciated at least 1.7 percent, leading declines among …