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TOKYO -- The Japanese government and the Bank of Japan have intervened to buy the yen and sell dollars for the first time in about 24 years after the currency weakened on indications that the central bank would stick to its ultraloose monetary policy. The intervention on Thursday was confirmed by Masato Kanda, Japan's vice finance minister for international affairs. It followed a slide in the yen after BOJ Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda made bearish remarks that indicated he had no intention to raise rates any time soon. Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki later said that the BOJ intervened to calm volatility...

Asia markets extend rout as Nikkei plunges 5.3% Saheli Roy Choudhury | @sahelirc Markets in Asia dropped sharply on Friday, with the Nikkei tumbling, after a sell-off on Wall Street as oil remained volatile and concerns about how central banks' easing measures will affect banks' earnings persisted. "The idea that central banks are now fully targeting the interest rate structure and putting a gun to domestic banks heads in a fight to stoke credit growth is in no way an equity friendly story," wrote Chris Weston, chief market strategist at spreadbetter IG, in a morning note. The Bank of Japan...

While the latest smartphones from Apple might have picked up critical acclaim after their launch in September, Apple is ready to cut the production on the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus lines by thirty percent, reports Nikkei. Nikkei suggests that the drop in production follows slower sales in Q4 2015. Apple's production for the iPhone 6S family matched the production numbers for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S Plus. The lower sales of the newer handsets have led to more stock in the supply chain than Apple is apparently comfortable with, so the production will be slowed down for...

Bulb shines brightest right before it goes...poof!

Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 610.66 pts or 4.18%, closing at 14,008.47. Toyota edged down by over 5%. Panasonic, Sharp and Hitachi will soon announce quarterly results. Nippon Paint tumbled 21% over the issuance of new shares.

JAPAN IS CRASHING Joe Weisenthal Jun. 12, 2013, 9:36 PMKAPOW! Japan is crashing again. Earlier the Nikkei was down 5%. Now it's down over 6%. USDJPY (the dollar against the yen) is down to 95, which indicates significant yen strengthening. Not only is this a remarkable turn events for the Japanese market, but the long Nikkei/short yen trade has been one of THE trades of 2013 so far, so this is a brutal kick in the ass for hedge funds and speculators. And it's clear the bloom is coming off the rose for Abenomics (to some extent) the monetary stimulus...

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- A hedge fund run by billionaire investor George Soros was back placing bets in Japan, shorting the yen and snapping up local stocks, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report Friday, citing a source close to the matter. Soros returned to the market following some signs of stability in the Japanese bond market, the source was cited as saying in the report. The person said that while the sharp recent fall in Japanese equities was a "surprise," the current level of stocks was "very attractive" as economic data and earnings were expected to pick up, Dow...

JAPAN PLUNGES AGAIN Joe Weisenthal Jun. 5, 2013, 4:04 AM It just keeps getting worse in Japan. After a brief respite, the Nikkei has plunged again. After being up earlier in the day, the market fell nearly 4% in late going.Screen Shot 2013 06 05 at 4.02.05 AM. Nikkei.com This comes after new PM Shinzo Abe revealed a new "Third Arrow" of Abenomics, which focuses on increasing wages. There was evidently some frustration that more wasn't done.

The Nikkei 225—Japan’s most highly cited stock index—has been on a wild ride this year. On May 22, the index was up 50% since the start of the year. But after four days of approximately 500-point losses, the Nikkei has erased 23% of its gains. The index fell 3.7% today alone. Analysts credit a lot of Japan’s stock market rally to promises from the Japanese government and the Bank of Japan that they will create inflation and spur economic growth in a three-pronged program referred to as Abenomics. If all goes as they hope, the program would end two decades...

Japan Gets Wrecked Again Joe Weisenthal May 27, 2013, 4:59 AM For the most part, it's likely to be a very quiet day, thanks to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. But the big story is Japan once again, where stocks went out close to the lows. The index fell 3.2%. That follow last Thursday 7% crash and Friday's mediocre gain. The violent swings in the market is the world's biggest stories, as everyone anxiously awaits to see if a major unwind is really in place. Meanwhile, Europe is actually having a very nice day. Italy is gaining 1.25%....

The Weekend Is Over, And The Japanese Market Is Getting Clobbered Joe Weisenthal May 26, 2013, 8:07 PM The weekend is over, and trading has officially whirred to life in Asia. The big market that everyone's watching is obviously Japan, which crashed 7% on Thursday, before coming back modestly in Friday trading. That comeback, however, faded as Nikkei futures traded throughout the day, and now the Nikkei cash market is catching up. The Nikkei is currently off 2.8%, and USDJPY is below 102.

A global rally in stocks came to an abrupt halt Thursday as a 7% plunge on Japan's Nikkei index unnerved investors in Europe and set the tone for a weak opening on Wall Street. European markets fell by 2% and U.S. stock futures were pointing lower in the wake of the biggest one-day drop on the Nikkei since the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster. Germany's DAX lost 2.4% and France's CAC 40 was down 2.1%. Investors were rattled by weak economic data from China and indications that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start dialing down its bond-buying program as early...

The Nikkei too http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=^hsi http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=^HSI+Interactive#symbol=^hsi;range=3m;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

US Futures Keep Heading Lower, And Japan Is Falling Sharply Joe Weisenthal Aug. 18, 2011, 8:22 PM |The rough market session continues into the early hours of the Friday open in Asia. Japan is down sharply, currently off over 2%.Meanwhile, US futures keep grinding lower after the bell. Watch for more rough going tomorrow, especially in tech, as HP fell 10% after the bell following the announcement of re-org plans.

Of Course The Nikkei Is Tanking Joe Weisenthal Aug. 4, 2011, 8:07 PM After the monstrous mini-crash in the US, the Nikkei is tanking. In early trading its off over 3%.(4.0% as I post)

No Bounce From Debt Ceiling Vote, Japan Diving Joe Weisenthal Aug. 1, 2011, 9:44 PM So far no special "relief rally" from The House voting to raise the debt ceiling. Futures aren't doing much of anything. And Japan is markedly lower.

The Nikkei Stock Average climbed 4.3% to 8,974.38, after shrinking more than 16% in the previous two sessions, as investors looked beyond concerns about radiation from a stricken nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan; the broader Topix index added 5.4% to 807.79. The two benchmarks ended the morning session 4.4% and 5.1% higher, respectively ...

Nikkei closes down 10.55 percent (CNN) -- Japanese stocks closed down 10.55 percent, recovering from deeper losses earlier in the session, as the nation grappled with a crisis at an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant and the aftermath of last week's earthquake and tsunami. It was the third steepest percentage fall in the Nikkei's history. At one point, the Nikkei plunged more than 1,390 points, or more than 14 percent, nearing the worst-ever plunge of 14.90 percent on October 20, 1987, after the U.S. stock market crash on Black Monday. The close at 8,605.15, combined with the 6.2 percent drop on...

Japan's Nikkei dives 6.5% Japanese stocks extend their post-quake losses after Monday's 6.2% drop in the Nikkei Average, as the possibility of a nuclear disaster remains ... 10:35p BREAKING Nikkei Average futures down 11.1% during break

8,999.73 Data as of 10:00pm ET -620.76 / -6.45%