financializer news A weblog highlighting financial topics making news in the international media.

cryptocurrency market: In the aftermath of the massive cryptocurrency heist, which saw 58 billion worth of NEM coins taken from the Tokyo-based startup, Japan's cryptocurrency market appeared to have lost vigor amid an intensified crackdown on virtual currency exchange operators by the country's financial watchdog, according to The Japan Times. According to fiscal 2020 earnings released by Monex Group last month, Coincheck's revenue jumped by more than fivefold to 20.8 billion compared with the previous year. Perhaps, the most symbolic indication of the local industry's progress is the steady growth recorded by Coincheck Inc., which is now under Monex Group Inc., an online brokerage. ; A hacking attack that hit Coincheck in January 2018 put a wet blanket on a growing cryptocurrency frenzy. Of the 260,000 users that it gained, about 210,000 were concentrated in the second half of the business year that ended in March, indicating that many users have hopped on the latest crypto bandwagon. That incident highlighted the fact that many exchange operators, which were startups, did not have experience and know-how in properly running online-based financial services, prompting the government to issue a series of reprimands, some of which even ordered the suspension of operations. When Coincheck was hit by the cyberattack, the firm was criticized for neglecting consumer protection amid its sharp growth. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

franklin templeton: Franklin Templeton's Michael Hasenstab says it could undermine the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency, according to The Japan Times. Joe Biden's White House is studying the potential threat to U.S. interests. ; Yet talk to people who have actually used the digital yuan in China, and you're more likely to get a different response shrugs of indifference. Historian Niall Ferguson is calling the digital yuan a potentially fatal challenge to decades of American financial hegemony. In Shenzhen, the high-tech metropolis that just extended China's largest digital yuan trial, participants interviewed showed little interest in switching from mobile payment systems run by Ant Group Co. and Tencent Holdings Ltd. that have already replaced cash in much of the country. I'm not at all excited, said Patricia Chen, a 36-year-old who works in the telecom industry and was one of the more than 500,000 people in Shenzhen eligible to take part in the trial. Some balked at the possibility a digital yuan might give authorities easier access to real-time data on their financial lives. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

growth stocks: The key market gauge inched up 26.45 points Friday. ; The Topix index of all issues on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange ended up 19.22 points, or 0.99%, at 1,952.27, following a 5.65-point rise the previous trading day, according to The Japan Times. Tokyo stocks got off to a firm start, aided by rises in all three major U.S. stock indicators Friday of which the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 index rewrote their record highs. The 225-issue Nikkei average rose 160.52 points, or 0.55%, to end at 29,518.34, extending its winning streak to a third straight market day. The U.S. indexes' strong performances came as growth stocks, in particular, attracted buying, after the Labor Department's announcement of far weaker-than-expected growth in April's U.S. nonfarm payrolls eased concerns over a rise of long-term interest rates. But the key market gauge failed to extend gains in the afternoon, with its upside capped by profit-taking of heavyweight semiconductor names such as chipmaking gear manufacturer Tokyo Electron. The Nikkei climbed over 300 points at one point in the morning. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

cash reserves: That is the fundamental problem with bitcoin, if those are the objectives for treasurers, then breaking them could get them in trouble, according to The Japan Times. Tesla Inc.'s 1.5 billion bitcoin bet saw it join business software firm Micro Strategy Inc. and Twitter boss Jack Dorsey's payments company Square Inc. in swapping some traditional cash reserves for the digital coin. Yet there's unlikely to be a concerted cryptocurrency charge any time soon, say many finance executives and accountants loath to risk balance sheets and reputations on a highly volatile and unpredictable asset that confounds convention. ; When I did my treasury exams, the thing we were told as No. 1 objective is to guarantee security and liquidity of the balance sheet, said Graham Robinson, a partner in international tax and treasury at PwC and an adviser to the U.K.'s Association for Corporate Treasurers. RELATED STORIES Pandemic-era central banking is creating bubbles everywhere Bitcoin's epic run is winning more attention on Wall Street Bitcoin bet sparks rally at Japan's most expensive brokerage Coinbase mafia shows how tight a circle holds sway over Bitcoin Proponents of the cryptocurrency see it as a hedge against inflation at a time of unprecedented government stimulus, a falling dollar and record-low interest rates that make attractive high-yielding assets hard to find. It will take more than a small handful of disruptive companies investing in bitcoin to impact the narrative in boardrooms, said Raul Fernandez, an entrepreneur and investor who sits on the audit committee of the board of chipmaker Broadcom Inc. as well as other companies. While the moves have prompted more boardroom discussions, headaches from bitcoin's volatility to accounting for it and storing it are likely to preclude a big wave of companies holding large amounts on balance sheets in the short term, according to financial officers, board members and accountants. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

household spending: The economy grew an annualized 11.7% in the October-December period, weaker than the preliminary reading of 12.7% annualized growth to mark the second straight quarter of growth, Cabinet Office data showed Tuesday, according to The Japan Times. The reading, which was weaker than economists' median forecast for a 12.8% gain, translates into a real quarter-on-quarter expansion of 2.8% from October to December, versus a preliminary 3.0% gain. The slower growth was mainly due to weaker capital expenditure and public spending, which both expanded less than previously thought in the fourth quarter, even as exports remained solid. ; Separate data showed household spending was hit by a bigger annual drop in January than in the prior month, a sign the COVID-19 pandemic was keeping consumers cautious about shopping. Capital spending grew 4.3% from the previous quarter, lower than a preliminary 4.5% rise, but outpacing the median forecast for a 4.1% increase. Although vaccination started in Japan, it will take time to yield its impact, so the economy is forecast to go though some ups and downs, said Yoshiki Shinke, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute. Private inventories, including raw materials and manufactured products, subtracted 0.6 percentage point from revised growth domestic product growth GDP worse than a negative preliminary contribution of 0.4 percentage point. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

toyota: That's why Toyota has so far been largely unscathed by a global shortage of semiconductors following a surge in demand for electrical goods under novel coronavirus lockdowns that has forced many rival automakers to suspend production, the sources said, according to The Japan Times. Toyota was, as far as we can tell, the only automaker properly equipped to deal with chip shortages, said a person familiar with Harman International, which specializes in car audio systems, displays and driver assistance technology. After the catastrophe severed Toyota's supply chains on March 11, 2011, the world's biggest automaker realized the lead-time for semiconductors was far too long to cope with devastating shocks such as natural disasters. ; The automaker came up with a business continuity plan BCP that required suppliers to stockpile anywhere from two to six months' worth of chips, depending on the time it takes from order to delivery, four sources said. Two of the sources who spoke to Reuters are Toyota engineers and the others are at companies involved in the chip business. Toyota, meanwhile, has raised its vehicle output for the fiscal year ending this month and jacked up its full-year earnings forecast by 54%. Classic lean solution The source familiar with Harman said the technology company, part of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, was experiencing shortages of central processing units CPUs and power management integrated circuits as early as November last year. Toyota surprised rivals and investors last month when it said its output would not be disrupted significantly by chip shortages, even as Volkswagen, General Motors, Ford, Honda and Stellantis, among others, have been forced to slow or suspend some production. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

exports dependence: A trio of Asian countries reporting growth recently show why the bullish scenarios tossed around at the end of 2020 resonate, but what some of the cheery sentiment is skipping over, according to The Japan Times. Too much focus on the broad-brush global picture glosses over telling nuances at the regional level; without that insight, projections can go awry. The recent performances of big commercial powers and small-but-indicative nations point to a far-from-perfect rebound. Japan, Singapore and Thailand recorded a promising end to a terrible year. That matters because the region is perceived to have tackled the pandemic relatively well, and because of Asia's strength in exports and dependence on travel. Critically, the forces that drove the world into a massive recession COVID-19 and the efforts to contain it still haunt Asia. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

indian state: Police said the document aimed to spread disaffection against the Indian state in a tweet that tagged the prime minister's office. ; She joined at least seven others hit with similar charges since the farmer protests began almost three months ago, including a former foreign minister, journalists, authors and academics, part of a growing number of sedition cases under Modi, according to The Japan Times. The total number of cases has risen from 43 when he first took office in 2014 to more than 100 each of the past two years, according to research group Article14. Delhi police this month arrested Disha Ravi, a 22-year-old environmental campaigner, at her home in the southern city of Bangalore for editing and sharing a toolkit tweeted by teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg in support of the farmers. Since multiple individuals can be charged in one case, it said, the number of people affected stretches into the thousands. The maximum penalty can be a life term in prison. A relic of the British colonial government once used against Mahatma Gandhi, India's 19th-century sedition statute gives police broad powers to make arrests ahead of filing formal charges if an act or speech by an individual is regarded to be disloyal to or threatening to the state. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

planes: A PW4000 engine made by Raytheon Technologies Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney division powering a Boeing 777-200 bound for Honolulu failed on takeoff Saturday, scattering debris over a residential area near Denver, according to The Japan Times. The plane was able to return to Denver airport and land safely. Japan's transport ministry on Sunday ordered ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. to ground Boeing 777 planes they operate following an engine failure that rained debris over a Denver suburb but injured no one. ; The airlines had already taken the planes out of service 13 operated by JAL and 19 by ANA before the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism issued the order. The grounding of the 32 planes caused a cancellation of one JAL flight from Okinawa Prefecture's Naha to Tokyo's Haneda on Sunday. On Dec. 4, an engine on a JAL plane operating a Naha to Haneda service experienced trouble, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing. JAL and ANA said they are substituting other aircraft and there will be no flight cancellations from Monday onward. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

analysts brokers: Next week, the Nikkei is expected to move mainly between 29,000 and 30,000, analysts and brokers said, according to The Japan Times. Maki Sawada, strategist at Nomura Securities Co., said economic indicators to be released domestically and overseas may give further reassurance to investors that the economy is on the recovery path. This week, the Nikkei average of 225 first-section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange climbed 740.88 points, or 2.57%, to end at 29,520.07 on Friday. ; The market enjoyed a bull run on positive developments regarding U.S. President Joe Biden's 1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus package and rosy earnings announcements by Japanese firms in the first half of the week, but the Nikkei lost steam after a national holiday on Thursday, due to concerns over market overheating. But at the same time Sawada noted that such reassurance would not be enough for the Nikkei to breach the major psychological threshold of 30,000. Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Securities Japan Inc., said upcoming domestic earnings reports are expected to continue to underpin the market by showing stable business recoveries from the coronavirus crisis. Even if progress with Biden's rescue package is made, the 30,000 line cannot be broken because large U.S. fiscal spending has already been priced in, she added. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

army chiefs: President Joe Biden said his administration was cutting off military leaders' access to 1 billion in funds in the U.S., while the Treasury Department blocked any U.S. assets and transactions with 10 current or former military officials held responsible for the Feb. 1 coup, according to The Japan Times. But experts believe the army chiefs still have access to enormous wealth from the sprawling conglomerates behind them. After last week's coup to oust civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the subsequent protest crackdown calls have grown for international penalties. ; On Thursday, the United States slapped sanctions on the country's top brass. Through two highly secretive military-controlled behemoths Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited MEHL and the Myanmar Economic Corporation MEC at least 133 companies in the country are wholly or partially overseen by generals, according to a report by Justice For Myanmar JFM . The opaque groups have their tentacles in industries as diverse as beer, tobacco, transportation, textiles, tourism and banking. Although Myanmar is the world's largest producer of jade, and the trade is estimated to be worth billions of dollars a year, only a very small part of the financial windfall ends up in state coffers with most high-quality stones believed to be smuggled over the border into China. Much of the lucrative and largely unregulated jade and ruby trade is controlled by military-owned businesses. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

asian country: The turmoil is prompting multinationals like Thailand's biggest industrial developer to delay investment plans, a harbinger of things to come should the chaos deepen. ; Western nations are applying pressure on the newly installed military government of the Southeast Asian country, once regarded as greenfield territory for everything from oil and gas to leisure resorts, according to The Japan Times. With the U.S. reiterating plans to renew sanctions, it could cause a rippling effect among businesses, threatening 5.5 billion in foreign investment in a country that just a few years ago was on the path to democracy. From beer maker Kirin Holdings Co. to an early backer of gaming firm Razer Inc., companies and investors are weighing the impact of a military coup that has thrust the once-thriving nation into a state of emergency. It will definitely get bigger as these corporations get on board the bandwagon, Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners in Singapore. Bordering the massive markets of India and China, Myanmar has abundant natural resources, including oil and gas, gold, silver and precious stones. Myanmar has been attracting more outside investment in recent years after posting double-digit economic growth in the early part of the last decade. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

code name: Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, has been interested in audio communication forms, said the people with knowledge of the matter, and he appeared in the Clubhouse app Sunday to chat about augmented and virtual reality. ; Facebook executives have ordered employees to create a similar product, said the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly, according to The Japan Times. The product is in its earliest stages of development, they said, and the project's code name could change. Clubhouse, a social networking app, has gained buzz for letting people gather in audio chat rooms to talk about various topics. We've been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people, Emilie Haskell, a Facebook spokeswoman, said. Facebook has a history of breaking into new technologies and chasing different mediums that have attracted users, especially if those audiences are young. A representative for Clubhouse declined to comment. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

face challenge: As the triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant continues to cast a shadow over the coastal areas, the three prefectures now face the challenge of achieving autonomous economic growth orchestrated by firms and others in the private sector, according to The Japan Times. In the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, an evacuation order issued shortly after the nuclear accident was partially lifted in March 2017. The prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate have been shored up economically by public investment involving reconstruction projects since being devastated by the disaster on March 11, 2011, and the subsequent nuclear power plant meltdowns. ; The three prefectures, however, are seeing reconstruction demand pass its peak. Although industrial complexes have been built and restaurants have opened their doors to customers once again in Namie, there are also many empty plots of land in the town, which shows that some former Namie residents had their houses torn down after giving up on returning from where they had been evacuated. Meanwhile, some companies that were not doing business in Namie prior to the disaster have made inroads into the town. Sales halved from before the disaster, said Yasushi Niizuma, who reopened his restaurant in the town. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

press release: The pledge from the Solar Energy Industries Association in the U.S. doesn't specifically mention Xinjiang, according to The Japan Times. The region in Western China plays a dominant role in the global solar supply chain, and it's also become the center of widespread accusations that President Xi Jinping's government is systematically oppressing Muslim Uighurs. It will be much harder for them to actually cut ties with Xinjiang, the western China region facing increasing scrutiny for human rights abuses. An accompanying press release, however, calls on the pledge's signatories to quit the territory over evidence of forced labor. ; The move sheds light on a dirty secret of the solar industry It relies on Xinjiang and its cheap coal power to produce half of its key raw material. Political pressure is building up within the industry to reconsider the supply chain, said Johannes Bernreuter, head of polysilicon market intelligence firm Bernreuter Research. And with demand for panels set to explode as the U.S. and China commit to more clean power, it will be even harder for the industry to quit the troubled region. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

hair salons: The pace of decline was the fastest since 2009 when the global financial crisis and economic downturn caused a slide of 13.5%. ; By sector, the average plunged 33.5% among livelihood services such as hair salons as well as the entertainment industry, according to The Japan Times. Restaurant and hotel operators marked a 27.3% fall while manufacturers saw a 19.5% drop. The average stood at 17,352 165 per month, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said in a preliminary report that covered workplaces with at least five workers. Monthly overtime hours of all workers fell 13.2% on average for 2020, also the biggest decline since a 15.0% decline in 2009. The survey also showed that part-timers made up 31.14% of the country's workforce last year, down 0.39 point from 2019 and the first decrease since the survey began in 1990, as the pandemic seriously damaged the service sectors, which employ many nonregular workers. The average total cash earnings per worker, including base and overtime pay, fell 1.2% last year to 318,299 on a nominal basis for the second straight year of decline. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

japan-related content: I mean, there's only so many times you can watch a video of conveyor-belt sushi, according to The Japan Times. This doesn't mean interest in Japan-related content on You Tube has trailed off, though. Content creators based in Japan often referred to as J-vloggers most of whom are from countries other than Japan, have shepherded overseas Japanophiles to places in this country that many locals haven't even visited. ; Life moves pretty fast on the internet, though, and the heyday of the J-vlogger simply sharing their life online has waned as the market has become oversaturated with similar-looking content. If anything, it has become more popular during the pandemic with people using the videos to plan their dream vacations and post-college plans after the pandemic. Broad is the creator behind the popular Abroad In Japan channel. My You Tube videos had an increase in views, I'd say, You Tuber Chris Broad told The Japan Times' Oscar Boyd in December for the Recultured podcast. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

once-in-a-generation shakeup: Japan Exchange Group Inc., which owns the bourse, plans to cut the number of market segments, apply new listing criteria and turn five confusing, overlapping divisions into three simpler sections blue-chips, startups and the rest. ; A key goal seemed to have been to overhaul the Topix, whose membership has almost doubled since the 1990s to over 2,000 companies and includes more than half of Japan's listed firms, into a much slimmer benchmark of top-performing, well-governed firms, according to The Japan Times. But some are already voicing concern that the changes may not result in the dramatic transformation that had been hoped for. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is set to undergo a once-in-a-generation shakeup in little over a year. One reason is that Keidanren, Japan's powerful, industry-heavy business lobby, is likely to oppose significant changes to practices that have long made foreign investors skeptical of Japanese stocks such as cross-shareholdings, in which companies with business dealings own stakes in one another. It looks likely that vested interests will water down the process, moving the focus to merely ejecting the small caps rather than corporate governance laggards, Smith said. That's the view of Nicholas Smith, a strategist at CLSA Securities Japan Co., who wrote a report last month titled Opportunity Missed. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

anglo-dutch company: Shell announced in October it would increase its spending on low-carbon energy to 25% of overall capital expenditure by 2025 and the sources said that would translate into more than 5 billion a year, up from 1.5 billion to 2 billion now, according to The Japan Times. The Anglo-Dutch company will, however, keep its overall oil and gas output largely stable for the next decade to help fund its energy transition, though gas is set to become a bigger part of the mix, the sources said. Shell and its European rivals are seeking new business models to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels and appeal to investors concerned about the long-term outlook for an industry under intense pressure to slash greenhouse gas emissions. ; Shell will present its strategy on Feb. 11 and unlike Total and BP, the company will focus more on becoming an intermediary between clean power producers and customers than investing billions in renewable projects, the sources said, giving previously unreported details of the plan. A Shell spokeswoman declined to comment on the details of the company's new strategy ahead of its February announcements. While Europe's big oil firms are all rolling out strategies to survive in a low-carbon world, investors and analysts remain skeptical about their ability to transform centuries-old business models and triumph in already crowded power markets. BP, meanwhile, plans to slash its oil output by 40% by 2030 and has swept aside its core oil and gas exploration team to focus on renewables, with spending on low-carbon energy set to rise 10-fold to 5 billion over the coming decade. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

coronavirus cases: Avex Inc., an entertainment company, also plans to offload its head office in the capital. ; Companies around the world are paring office space as workers stay at home during the pandemic, giving firms an opportunity to save costs and raise cash, according to The Japan Times. In Tokyo, office vacancies have surged to a five-year high and may continue to climb as the government urges people to work remotely to curtail the latest wave of coronavirus cases. In a country where companies have long taken pride in owning their buildings, advertising agency Dentsu Group Inc. and logistics firm Nippon Express Co. are now considering selling their Tokyo headquarters. Not many companies in Japan have sold headquarters buildings before, but we may see more of it, said Kakyu Tanaka, a senior researcher at Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Research Institute Co. With thousands of its employees working from home, Dentsu is looking to sell its 48-floor headquarters for around 300 billion and lease back some of the space, the Nikkei reported in January. Firms that are faced with tough business prospects but have room to reduce office space through remote work may do so, he said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

voter fraud: An order by acting President Myint Swe, a former general aligned with the army, granted full authority to the army chief to run the country, saying it was necessary to act now before the new parliament sessions began this week. ; If such a problem is not addressed properly, then there will be obstacles in the nation's democratic transition, the order said, according to The Japan Times. The army statement said voter rolls would be checked and the election commission would be re-established. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing's office said he took the action in response to alleged voter fraud and the military would hold a free and fair general election after the emergency is over. Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the ruling National League for Democracy, confirmed Suu Kyi and President Win Myint had been detained in what he called a coup. TV channels, phone and internet communications were all spotty, making it difficult to get information from the country. It was unclear how many people were held, and under what terms. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

climate change: While this promise is both welcome and ambitious, Japan's pledge comes nearly a year after the European Union, which in 2019 proposed a climate law that would create a legally binding target of net zero carbon by 2050, according to The Japan Times. Further, despite its green rhetoric, Japan's climate change record at home and abroad has been mixed at best. Responding to climate change is no longer a constraint on economic growth, he said in October, I declare we will aim to realize a decarbonized society. To accomplish Suga's ambitious goals, Japan will need to learn from other countries and pursue major political and economic reforms. ; Until 2011, Japan was on track to use nuclear energy to provide more than half of its electricity by around 2040. But the March 11, 2011, triple disasters a 9.0 magnitude earthquake, 14-meter-tall tsunami and meltdowns at three of the Fukushima No. 1 plant's nuclear reactors pushed Japan away from nuclear power and back to fossil fuels. The Japanese public was not strongly opposed to the use and expansion of the fleet of 54 nuclear power plants, which generated some 30% of Japanese electricity. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

nikkei stock: The euro was at 1.2155-2155, up from 1.2104-2104, and at 126.08-09, up from 125.88-88. ; After fluctuating around 103.90 in early trading on dollar buying by Japanese importers for settlement purposes, the dollar fell to around 103.70 later in the morning as the Nikkei stock average turned lower, according to The Japan Times. The U.S. currency moved narrowly around 103.70-80 in the afternoon amid an absence of fresh trading incentives. At 5 p.m., the dollar stood at 103.73-74, down from 104.00-04 at the same time Tuesday. Market participants are waiting to hear what Biden has to say on U.S.-China ties in his inauguration speech, a currency broker said. But the impact of her remark was limited on the dollar-yen sector because it gave little surprise to currency market players, market sources said. In a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday, Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen showed her readiness to launch large-scale fiscal measures. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

self-driving vehicles: Honda and major U.S. carmaker GM agreed in 2018 to join hands in developing self-driving vehicles. ; Honda said it plans to start a mobility business using the Cruise Origin, a self-driving vehicle being developed by the three companies, with an eye to offering new transportation solutions in potential collaboration with local governments in Japan, according to The Japan Times. Through active collaboration with partners who share the same interests and aspirations, Honda will continue to accelerate the realization of our autonomous vehicle MaaS business in Japan, Honda President Takahiro Hachigo said in a statement, referring to its mobility service. Automakers are scrambling to develop next-generation autonomous vehicles, with IT firms also joining the race. Honda and Cruise will start conducting experiments in Japan using Cruise's test vehicle this year, Honda said. Microsoft will join GM, Honda Motor Co. and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than 2 billion 207.5 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of the San Francisco-based startup to 30 billion. RELATED STORIES Toyota to use advanced self-driving tech in commercial vehicles first Toyota-backed Pony.ai to offer autonomous delivery service in California Honda to launch world's first level 3 autonomous vehicle by March Cruise and GM said Tuesday they would partner with Microsoft Corp. to accelerate the commercialization of driverless vehicles. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

section issues: On Friday, the benchmark index lost 179.08 points. ; The Topix index of all first section issues ended 11.12 points, or 0.60%, lower at 1,845.49, following a 16.67-point decline the previous trading day, according to The Japan Times. The Tokyo market succumbed to strong selling pressure from the outset, in response to drops in all three major U.S. stock gauges Friday, with the Nikkei giving up more than 400 points at one point in early trading. The 225-issue Nikkei average of the Tokyo Stock Exchange shed 276.97 points, or 0.97%, to close at 28,242.21. The market, however, managed to cut some of its losses later in the morning, thanks to buying on dips and anticipation for the Bank of Japan's purchases of exchange-traded funds, brokers said. The market went through a much-needed speed correction, after the Nikkei gained around 1,600 points in its recent rising streak of five sessions through Thursday last week, an official at a securities firm said. Both the Nikkei and Topix indexes continued to fluctuate in negative territory in the afternoon amid persistent profit-taking following the Tokyo market's recent bull run and a dearth of fresh buying incentives. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.

trade agreement: But if Biden maintains outgoing President Donald Trump's confrontational approach to the world's second-largest economy, he will come to regret it, according to The Japan Times. While Biden may be less overtly antagonistic toward China than Trump was, he has echoed many of his predecessor's complaints about China's trade practices, accusing the country of stealing intellectual property, dumping products in foreign markets and forcing technology transfers from American companies. A glaring exception is China. And he has indicated that he will not immediately abandon the phase one bilateral trade agreement reached last year, or remove the 25% tariffs that now affect about half of China's exports to the United States. ; In Biden's view, it is best not to make any significant changes to the ongoing approach to China until he conducts a full review of the existing agreement and consults with America's traditional allies in Asia and Europe, in order to develop a coherent strategy. But it should not take a comprehensive examination to see that high tariffs and the phase one agreement are fundamentally incompatible. His chosen U.S. Trade Representative, Katherine Tai an Asian-American trade lawyer and fluent Mandarin speaker with extensive experience in China might play an important role in the review process. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.