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 trading at this hour. the eurozone's manufacturing pmi came in at 51.5, only a small increase from the previous month. fueling the worries is france as the country's business activity saw a contraction larger

kuroda says the central bank will be able to achieve its 2% inflation target in about two years as planned, though he says the goal is ambitious. >> 2% inflation target has become a sort of international standard nowadays. basically, almost all countries have adopted 2% or near 2% inflation targeting policy, so the bank of japan has been a bit late. >> kuroda also says the boj is studying possible side effects of monetary easing measures that include government bond purchases. 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 th

. >> kuroda also expressed hope that employers would pay higher wages on the prospect for improved corporate earnings. 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 billi

we wouldn't have made the sony investment if we didn't support abe and kuroda and everything that they'rely and from a monetary standpoint. i wrote an editorial about the third era and we're very pleased about the direction. sony fit into that as a back drop and anything we dos have to make sense as a mac macro perspective because sony has been the beneficiary of a weaker yen and some sort of structural reform but also went to the core of what we look at in terms of special situations. he was a company trading in japan covered only by electronics analysts, valued on a multiple of book value that had hiding in clear sight this incredibly valuable sony entertainment business, which wasn't being given credit. so i think at a minimum we've highlighted that value and it's been a benefit for the company. >> let me tell you what george clooney had to say about you and you know this already. he says "it makes me crazy, a guy from the hedge fund entity is the single least qualified person to make these kinds of judgments. that's like walmart saying let me fix your town, strangeling the stores, get