"Japan’s Topix index fell almost 7 percent, the most since the aftermath of the March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster, as financial companies plunged amid rising bond yields. The rout triggered a halt in Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures trading in Osaka." Continue reading →
"HKMEx chairman Barry Cheung Chun-yuen told the Sunday Morning Post that the decision to surrender the trading licence and not reopen for business tomorrow would have no impact on investors and that client contracts would be honoured. 'There is no question of not getting your money back or anything like that. People absolutely do not have to worry about that and I don't think they are. The only thing they will want to know is what settlement price will be used,' Cheung said." Continue reading →
"A large majority of Japanese people disagree with a high-profile politician who said women forced to provide sex during World War II were a military necessity, polls issued on Monday said. Up to 200,000 'comfort women' from Korea, China, the Philippines and elsewhere were forcibly drafted into brothels catering to the Japanese military during WWII, according to mainstream historians. Outspoken Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto said last week these women served a 'necessary' role keeping soldiers in line, sparking outrage in China and South Korea and inviting US criticism." Continue reading →
"Growth jumped to a 3.5pc rate in the first quarter, vindicating the government’s efforts to break Japan’s deflation psychology and lift the country out of its 20-year ice age. 'Abe’s kickstart appears to have succeeded,' said Flemming Nielsen from Danske Bank. Retail sales are soaring as a 'wealth shock' electrifies the economy. The Nikkei index has risen has 70pc since November, with foreign hedge funds among the first to jump on the bandwagon. The weaker yen is already delivering a powerful punch, accounting for almost half the growth. The currency has dropped 30pc against the dollar and China’s yuan since August, and 37pc against the euro." Continue reading →
"Today’s gold market is being defined by two trends: aggressive selling by investors in North America through exchange-traded funds, and aggressive buying by consumers in Asia. But for now, the ETF investors are overwhelming everyone else. Gold prices settled below US$1,390 an ounce on Thursday, and after five rough trading days in a row, they are approaching the lows that were reached during last month’s dramatic collapse. Chinese gold imports have been going through the roof. Data released last week showed that China imported 223.5 tonnes (or 7.9 million ounces) from Hong Kong in March, crushing the previous monthly record." Continue reading →
"India's economic boogeyman, the monthly trade deficit, continues to rear its ugly head, this and every time, driven be the country's insatiable desire for gold which is so powerful, the country took full advantage of the plunge in gold prices, and saw business imports of gold soar by 138% y/y in April, forcing the trade deficit to hit a 3 month high of $17.8 billion as more fiat left the country in return for bringing in more of the 'barbarous relic.' Gold imports more than doubled on both a Y/Y and sequential basis, with gold accounting for $7.5 billion, or 18% of total imports, compared to $3.1 billion in March." Continue reading →
"The textile industry’s main trade body said all operations at the nearby Ashulia industrial zone on the outskirts of Dhaka were being suspended until further notice. Shahidullah Azim, of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the decision was made 'to ensure the security of our factories'. Most of Bangladesh’s top garment factories are based at Ashulia and there has been 'virtually no work' there since the April 24 Rana Plaza tragedy, Azim said. Ashulia is home to around 500 factories which make clothing for a string of major Western retailers including Walmart, H&M, Tesco and Carrefour." Continue reading →
"A Canadian documentarian says in a new film that an elderly man he found living in a remote Vietnamese village is former U.S. Army Green Beret Sgt. John Hartley Robertson, who was presumed dead 44 years ago. According to The Independent, filmmaker Michael Jorgensen claims that the man found in a village in South Vietnam can’t remember the English language or the names of his wife and children, but that he is the U.S. veteran whose helicopter was shot down in 1968." Continue reading →
"Basketball hall-of-famer Dennis Rodman, who forged an unlikely friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on a recent trip, appealed Tuesday for the freedom of an American sentenced to 15 years. 'I’m calling on the Supreme Leader of North Korea or as I call him ‘Kim’, to do me a solid and cut Kenneth Bae loose,' Rodman tweeted. Bae, whose Korean name is Pae Jun-Ho, was sentenced last week to 15 years of hard labor on charges that he tried to topple the North Korean regime. The Korean-American had organized tours into the isolated state." Continue reading →
"The government last month quietly began rolling out a project that gives it access to everything that happens over India's telecommunications network—online activities, phone calls, text messages and even social media conversations. Called the Central Monitoring System, it will be the single window from where government arms such as the National Investigation Agency or the tax authorities will be able to monitor every byte of communication. But privacy and internet freedom advocates are worried that in the name of security, the government could end up snooping on people, possibly abusing a system that does not have enough safeguards to protect ordinary citizens." Continue reading →