he noted that boj policy makers are still discussing what sort of side effect may surface, but added the bank may overcome any uncertainties. the head of france's bank admitted that there are still lingering uncertainties. the governor spoke in an interview with nhk in tokyo and said experts are recovering in the block hit hard by the credit crisis. >> we are now growing again, and maybe a very important sign is that in the so-called prolific countries, things are improving quite a lot. >> also pointed out reforms are necessary. earlier this month, european central bank lowered to a quarter percent to help support the region's economy. and investors also believe that the euro zone's economy is picking up. here's how major indexes are fairing at this hour. germany rose above the 9300 level for the first time ever, currently trading at 9302, in fact. london is up by about .3 of 1%. airline stocks in demand after crude oil prices declined, following a nuclear deal over iran. many posted gains, the nikkei climbed 1.5% to a six-month high and this was mainly due to the yen's slide. chines

the boj's massive government bond buying program has raised its total assets to 26% in yen terms from the figure at the end of march. total assets are estimated to rise further to around $2.8 trillion to the end of march 2014 as a result of the ongoing monetary easing measures. let's get a check of the markets now. equity investors in europe are cheered on. this comes two months after chancellor angela merkel's election victory. frankfurt is looking like this in light of that. it's up by .2 of a percent, london also gaining .2 of a percent. similar gains for the paris market. asia pacific region got a boost from hopes for financial sector reforms. hong kong's index closed as a ten-month high. tokyo's nikkei lost .4 of a percent, though. shares in thailand got a lift from the central bank's decision to cut its key rate. investors thought the rate cut would support the country's lackluster growth. the set index jumped to 1,373. moving on to currencies now, the euro is climbing against the yen after news about the german coalition right around 138.39. and that is a level we really haven'

boj policymakers revised down their gdp projections for this year. umm uncertainties remain habit the economies. they say japan's economy will grow 2.7% this fiscal year down one tenth of a percentage point from previously forecast. the policy makers forecast the consumption tax hike scheduled for april will not deal a serious blow to the economy. >>> japanese companies are reporting strong earnings for the april to september period as a weaker yen is boosting their profitability. the earning season has peaked. nearly 20% of those listed on the main board of the tokyo stock exchange reported on thursday. 6 a survey by snbc nikko securities shows the total ordinary profit of the 277 companies that had reported earnings by wednesday rose 45% in yen terms compared to a year ago. 29% of those companies have revised upward their full-year profit pjections through 2014. struggling electronics companies are making a sharp come back. panasonic has reported a net profit of $1.7 billion for the april-september period. that's a record high for midyear earnings.

the boj officials say the prices of auto-related products are also start to go rise because of growing demand. >>> eu leaders have pledged 45 billion euros -- that's about $60 billion -- to tackle unemployment among young people. eu leaders met in paris to discuss the problem. they announced measures, including more job training. they also want to assist groups that help young people find work. eu nations can access the $60 billion fund if they submit specific national plans to counter youth unemployment by year end. european council president herman fandrupi stressed the importance of stabilizing the region's social and political situations. he said the eu is trying to spur economic growth and put an end to youth unemployment. young people in the region are still having trouble finding jobs after the credit crunch. more than half of those under 25 in greece and spain are out of work. >>> shopkeepers in traditional markets in south korea have seen big retail stores pop up all around them. some have been unable to keep up with the competition. now many are turning to technology used by

the monetary base has grown 30% since the end of last month, just before the boj began introducing massive easing measures. the bank is trying to double the monetary base in two years and pull the country out of a long period of deflation. it depends on whether the growing supply of hone will lead to stepped up bank lending to both businesses and individuals. >>> a just hedge fund has agreed to pay the largest financial penalty in u.s. history for insider trading. s.a.p. capital advisers run by teach cohen was charged with securities fraud for system he cannily making illegal use of corporate insider information. s.a.c. initially denied criminal wrongdoing, but federal process kurt tors announced the hedge fund has now admitted to the charges and agreed to pay the fines. they will be banned from offering investment advice. steven cohen is known as one of the most successful investors in the united states. his fund has reported 30% on average over the last 20 years. >>> that will wrap it up for biz tonight. i'll leave you with a check of the markets. >>> organizers of russia's first winter

he noted the boj policy makers are still discussing what sort of side effect may surface. but he added that the bank will overcome any uncertainties the head of france's central bank has expressed confidence in the recovery of the eurozone economy. he admits however that there are still lingering uncertainties gov crescendo year spoke in an interview with nhk and tokyo. he said exports are recovering in countries of the block there were hit hard by the credit crisis. nobody we are no growing again. and the media. the dream pull this assignment is to stay in the so called pirie st counties. she saw improving quite enough. they're also pointed out that labor market reforms are necessary to strengthen corporate competitiveness. earlier this month the european central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate to zero point two five percent of help support the region's economy financial assets held by japanese households have grown this year partly due to rally is on the tokyo stock exchange and managers said the psc are trying to attract more individual investors to the market.

boj policy makers decided to continue their monetary easing measures the sudden motion in april. at the latest in business alivia with a check on my kits. it is. for now. what this will begin removing feel once on monday at the fishing and ninety eight nuclear plants is the first critical step in what is to become a key long de commissioning process. the gallant atari company workers to launch the operation of the number for me and to building there more than fifteen hundred assembly's a few months in the building. most of them i use and highly radioactive the building was damaged by a hydrogen explosion in march two thousand allow that the workers we used a crane attached a specially built structure. each employee is only allowed to work for two hours that day because of the high radiation levels in the building. the manager told nhk world that ted care is confident the operation can be carried out safely due to resume operation has been conducted more than one thousand two hundred times at nuclear plants including other facilities. we're not trying anything new or experienced w

after the meeting boj governor here heek co-kuroda smoke about the state of the economy. >> translator: auto sales have been clearly increasing. demand for tourism and other services have also been strong. we think consumer spending will be solid. >> kuroda says he expects a surge in consumer demand ahead of the consumption tax hike in april and a temporary pull-back after that. he said even after the higher consumption task personal spending is forecast to remain strong. on the global economy the governor said he expects the pace of recovery in the u.s. and europe to pick up. >> translator: the current slowdown in some emerging economies could last for some time. but an upturn in developed economies will help emerging economies and fuel their growth again. >> kuroda said a moderate recovery in japan will be supported by brisk consumer spending at home and a rebound in growth overseas. >>> on to the markets now, key economic data out of the eurozone show the region's economy is losing steam, putting downward pressure on the european stock markets. here is how major benchmarks are tradi

after the meeting boj governor huckabee cocoa in a spoke about the state of the economy. to those on bayou up in a company. auto sales have been clearly increasing and demand for tourism and other services have also been strong. we think consumer spending will be sol. the city expects a surge in consumer demand ahead of the consumption tax hike scheduled for april then a temporary pullback after that. he said even after the higher consumption tax personal spending is forecast to remain strong. on the global economy the governor said he expects the pace of recovery in the us and europe to pick up people who always the current slowdown and in some emerging economies could last for some time the state physical event i bought an upturn in the developed economies will help emerging economies and the fuel their growth again. curtis said a moderate recovery in japan will be supported by prince consumer spending at home and a rebound in growth overseas u s traded shares want to discuss which can possible tariff elimination of all agricultural products for trey. acting deputy u s

the boj tomorrow afternoon or tomorrow evening, after the close.elease its minutes. now, typically that's not very important but i think it will be for the week. in large part because of economy's are so much in influx and you want to avoid inflation numbers. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. good to see you. >> thank you. >> appreciate your time. up next some small town colorado to the big apple. our wealth editor robert frank on renewed calls to increase tax on the so-called rich. even more. peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on. with centurylink as your trusted it partner you'll experience reliable uptime for the network and services you depend on. multi-layered security solutions keep your information safe, and secure. and responsive dedicated support meets your needs, and eases your mind. centurylink. your link to what's next. [ male announcer ] what if a small company became big business overnight? ♪ ♪ like, really big... then expanded? ♪ ♪ or their new product tanked?

at the same time, one week before the january meeting of the fed, we have the boj meeting, and they're running out of time to get 2% inflation. >> what was the big takeaway from yellen on the hill, and what it means for the stock market between now and the end of the year, and for that matter, the markets globally. >> i think the market was expecting more than we got. we don't know this person. she's clearly very, very smart and worthy of the role. it was more of what we want. and that's more of chairman bernanke. but i also think they're much closer to tapering than the market was giving credit for. >> where are you on euro-dollar, right? you made a good call on the euro, i believe, at 1.38, you said it was a sell. where do we go from here? >> if the fed will tighten -- or taper, equals tighten -- >> there's a difference, paul. >> apparently, there is a difference, but we'll get there. i think that the euro will go lower. it will grind down, and the ecb won't have any problems with that at all. very good for the economic recovery. >> we'll see what happens. have a good weekend. >> you

his view is reinforced by the fact that boj has eight separate investigations under a way. do you agree we haven't solved the problem? what do we do to address too big to fail? >> i would agree addressing too big to fail has to be among the most important goals of the post crisis period. that must be the goal we try to achieve. too big to fail creates a threat to financial stability, and it does unfairly advantage large banking firms over small ones. my assessment is we are making progress. it should make a very meaningful difference in terms of too big to fail. we have raised capital standards. we will raise capital standards further. we have the possibility of requiring the largest banking organizations hold additional unsecured debt at the holding company level to make sure they are capable of resolution. right now they have the capacity and legal authority to resolve a firm that finds itself in trouble. this is very promising in terms of the able to accomplish that, so we are working with foreign regulators to improve the resolution and continue to put in place higher s

but i see very little prospect of the boj stepping into the market at any point. they're very happy to see the yen weaken at this point. >> dollar/yen this morning is at 102.28. we have failed to sustain any great meaningfully below 100 or dollar above 100. is it different now? is this a break that's going to be held? >> yeah. i was very kindly invited on to your program, on to cnbc at the beginning of the month. and i was saying i think the time is now right to see a weaker yen. and i think a number of things are starting to come together. in particular, the reason why the yen couldn't weaken after the first comments about fed tapering, problems with asset markets, this market is selling off made it very hard. japan has some safe haven status. that made that very difficult. but now in some respects we're past that. we can taper without another sell-off. but domestically, we think that we -- you know, we wouldn't be surprised to see the bank of japan will take further measures next year around the time when consumption tax starts to go up. so there are a few thing

the boj and the government will have the current position where they have to act in some way or the other. therefore, i am thinking we are seeing a trend of weakening yen. i am quite confident that we close this year above the 100 mark. >> as we say, five-year lows against the euro. five-year lows against the pound, as well. it's putting japan at quite a competitive advantage, particularly against korea. so what happens to the korean won in response? >> well, yes, certainly, certainly. in terms of price competitiveness, japan is gaining. certainly something a lot of people in korea are understandably afraid of and something which is raising concern. but i would argue that this gain in price competitiveness is only slowly and gradually gaining. so from a fundamental point of view, it's not such a desire for many in the market as those that fear it. >> thanks for that. have a nice weekend. we have more data out of the uk. mortgage lending. 1.2 billion versus september 1.11 billion. the gross mortgage lending figures at the high since 2008. mortgage approvals, some thought it would tick high

. -- that boj has eight separate investigations under a way. do you agree we haven't solved the problem? address too big to fail? >> i would agree addressing too big to fail has to be among the most important goals of the post crisis period. that must be the goal we try to achieve. fail creates a threat to financial stability, and it does unfairly advantage large firms over small ones. my assessment is we are making progress. very meaningful difference in terms of too big to fail. we have raised capital standards. we will raise capital standards further. we have the possibility of requiring the largest banking organizations hold additional unsecured debt at the holding company level to make sure they re capable of resolution. right now they have the capacity and legal doherty -- legal to resolve a firm that finds itself in trouble. this is very promising in terms that, able to accomplish so we are working with foreign to improve the resolution and continue to put in place higher standards, liquidity requirements. in subsidiary requirements. i t

the boj maintaining its view that the economy is recovering moderately. policy members are hopeful that the continued strength in the domestic demand will offset head whipped from soft overseas growth. hopefully you didn't see the carbon emission news coming out of japan, andrew, abandoning targets because of the economy. also australia just trying to repeal the entire carbon tax. a couple of setbacks. unless you like south carolina weather. which i happen to like. but anyway -- >> it's a little warm. also, a little bit of washington weather, too. the obama administration warning the government would likely begin defaulting on its obligations within a month of february 7th if congress did not raise the cap on government borrowing by then. becky. >>> a u.s. congressional panel has approved a bill targeting patent control. that's a company that buys licenses or patents from others and files infringement losses. they're going to go after all those patent trolls. i like that. >> it's like squatters on -- someone squatted on you for a while on your domain name