Bloomberg Tokyo’s inflation outpaced forecasts to hit 4% for the first time since 1982, suggesting the underlying price trend is stronger than expected by economists, a factor that could further fuel speculation the Bank of Japan will adjust policy again. Consumer prices excluding fresh food climbed 4% in the capital in December as food and energy costs continued to ...

  Bloomberg Hong Kong’s property market is seeing more deals as buyers bet the border reopening with mainland China will help channel more capital into the city and stoke a recovery. The number of transactions in 35 major residential projects jumped to an eight-month high in the two weeks ended January 8, according to Midland Realty. That is an encouraging ...

Bloomberg A day after Brazil’s capital was stormed by his predecessor’s supporters, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva worked from his office, where he met with the country’s governors as well as the heads of congress and the Supreme Court. “We are not going to allow democracy to slip out of our hands,” Lula said at the meeting. “They want ...

Bloomberg The European Union and Nato further solidified their relationship Tuesday when European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel and Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signed a new joint declaration of cooperation. A top Biden administration official said a deal struck by the new Republican House majority to cap 2024 spending would not imperil aid ...

  Bloomberg French President Emmanuel Macron and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to strengthen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region amid shared concerns over China and North Korea. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Macron and Kishida highlighted challenges including security as areas where they can increase cooperation. The leaders looked to a new round of joint military exercises as well ...

Bloomberg Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha joined a new party as he looks for ways to extend his eight-year rule despite term limits, signaling shifting alliances and a ramp up in political jockeying ahead of elections slated for May. On Monday, Prayuth became a member of the newly-formed Ruamthai Sarngchart party, which has pledged to name the former army chief ...

  Bloomberg Illinois lawmakers approved a bill that will ban the sale and manufacturing of certain assault weapons in the state. The state’s Democratic-controlled senate passed the legislation by a margin of 34-20 late Monday after deliberations that started on Sunday, with Governor J.B. Pritzker pushing for the ban at his inauguration speech in the afternoon. The bill comes in ...

  Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc is embarking on one of its biggest rounds of job cuts ever as it locks in on a plan to eliminate about 3,200 positions this week, with the bank’s leadership going deeper than rivals to shed jobs. The firm is expected to start the process mid-week and the total number of people affected will ...

  Bloomberg A deluge of debt sales in Europe has pushed issuance for the year beyond $130 billion in just a matter of days. More than 80 predominantly high-grade borrowers have piled in to the market in January to lock in funding that’s around the cheapest since the summer, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It’s the fastest start to ...

  Bloomberg Zimbabwe’s currency plunged to a record in the unauthorised market after the central bank urged suppliers not to buy foreign exchange with payment they recently received from the government. The Zimbabwean dollar traded at between Z$950-Z$1,100 to the US dollar in the parallel market, according to Zimpricecheck.com, a website which monitors unofficial and official rates. That’s the lowest ...