Some Bank of Japan policymakers said the central bank should explain to the public that theeconomy has yet to reach a phase where the timing and means to exit ultra-loose policy could be considered, minutes of their March rate review showed on Monday. “While normalization, or a gradual reduction in the degree of monetary accommodation, […]

Asian markets were poised for a positive start to the first trading day of the week, following gains seen stateside as investors focused on jobs numbers and trade talks. U.S. stocks gained on Friday despite a mixed jobs report, with Apple getting a boost following news that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had bought 75 million […]

North Korea said on Sunday its intention to denuclearize, unveiled at a historic inter-Korean summit, was not the result of U.S.-led sanctions and pressure, warning the United States not to mislead public opinion. Impoverished North Korea has been hit by a series of U.N. and U.S. sanctions in recent years in a bid to rein […]

Rohingya refugees in makeshift camps along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border could soon face a new threat to their living conditions — the monsoon season. The majority of the approximately 700,000 refugees from Rohingya to have crossed the border since fleeing violence in Myanmar have mostly ended up in Cox’s Bazar, a region notorious for flash floods […]

Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce firm, reported a 61 percent increase in fourth-quarter revenue, beating analyst estimates, driven by stronger than expected growth in its core commerce business. The company also forecast a revenue increase of 60 percent for the year to March 31, 2019, versus 58 percent in 2017-18. The results mark two years of […]

The board of Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart has approved a deal to sell a roughly 75 percent stake in the company to a group led by Walmart for $15 billion, according to a report. Japan’s SoftBank will sell its entire 20-plus percent stake in Flipkart, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing unnamed sources, and Google’s parent company […]

Trade tensions between the United States and China and the normalization of U.S. interest rates are the top concerns for developing Asia, government officials from across the region told CNBC this week. As U.S. and Chinese officials meet for trade talks in Beijing, Asia is watching negotiations closely for signs of mutual concessions that can […]

The United States formally complained to China after Chinese nationals pointed lasers at U.S. military aircraft near Djibouti in recent weeks, the Pentagon said on Thursday, an account strongly disputed by China. Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, hosts a U.S. military base that is home to about 4,000 personnel, including special operations forces, and […]

India’s largest lender posted its first quarterly loss in 17 years for the three months ended in December, but its chairman told CNBC that the rest of the year looks much better. The State Bank of India reported a net loss of 24.16 billion rupees ($361.8 million) for the December quarter, compared with a profit […]

Unlike many of their Western counterparts, Japanese workers aren’t afraid of robots stealing their jobs, a top-ranking official from the country said Friday. Japan’s labor force do not mind robots in factories because they’re seen as a source of help, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso said in a panel discussion […]