the nikkei has been down over 300 points in the first few minutes of trading. we could be seeing that slide correction right now in fact. we've also seen the yen regaining strength ahead of bank of japan meeting. that's also going to be very closely watched. >> seems like u.s. manufacturing data not helping the dollar too much. where do we stand this tuesday? >> the ism manufacturing data was in effect just having a look at some of the currency pairs there. let's talk about the euro. it's -- let's begin with the dollar. 92.96 to 93.01. manufacturing data fell in march to 51.3. euro/yen 119.50 to 53. it's holding a bit of a tight rein. key manufacturing data may give some further cues for the euro. investors will be monitoring unemployment rates. the data to be released later today. overall i think analysts telling us that we expect the nikkei to be in a bit of a mode ahead of the bank of japan meeting. as i said we're seeing some signs of selling. we'll keep track of that. back to you. >> thanks for that. u.s. i.t. giant apple has apologized to chinese consumer

another reason behind the nikkei surge. and in china the shanghai composite eased a bit ahead of a two-day holiday starting tomorrow. and analysts say the economic outlook remains cloudy while beijing's reform measures lack clarity. some drug makers buck the trend benefiting from the scare as more cases of a new bird flu string are reported. weakness in oil majors and banks put pressure on the hang seng but defensive sectors capped losses there. elsewhere south korea's kospi lost ground amid escalating tensions with the north and australia miners dragged the market lower. and sensex is lower by half a percent. back to you. >> thank you for that. i mentioned data coming out of the eurozone here. this is so interesting. euro europe remains as this 2% target. it's interesting to see this headline cpi data continue to soften. increase of 1.7% on the year for march. that was versus february's 1.8%. it's the lowest year end reading since august 2010 and again it's well below where that 2% range would indicate. usually that would

it has given a major boost to the nikkei. out to li sixuan from singapore with more. >> thank you, kelly. a decent start for asian markets this week following the positive close on wall street on friday. the nikkei 225 was a stand out winner, up nearly 2% thanks to abe-nomices figures. this is near the hundred level versus the u.s. dollar after the g-20 avoided criticizing japan for its radical easing moves. meanwhile, south korea's kospi gained 1% as tech shares in banking stocks gained support. a rebound in global oil and gold prices helped miners claw back some lost ground. bank were broadly higher on hopes of a rate cut due to the recent plunge in resources sectors. india's sensex on the move trading higher by about 0.7%. but the country's i.t. giant, wipro, tanking over 8% at the moment after posting weak q1 guidance on friday. and as for the market laggers today, china markets underperformed the rest of asia with the shanghai deposit ending lower by 0.1%. stocks reacted to the 00.7 magnitude earthquake over the weekend.

the nikkei is up about a fourth of a percent. i'll leave you with a check on some other markets. >>> pakistan's high court has ordered the arrest of the former president. musharaaf returned last month hoping to make a come back in politics but now that comeback is in doubt. he faces a resounding election defeat five years ago. he lived in exile since 2009. pakistani law enforcement authorities issued the arrest warrant for him in 2011. they accused him of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister that led to her assassination. the high court has suspended the warrant while he tried to fight the accusations. the authorities have ordered his arrest in an about face. he's living at his home. he's poised to file an objection with the supreme court. his return to politics was already looking unlikely because the election board refused to accept his candidacy. >>> new u.s. navy combat ship, the uss freedom arrived in port in singapore on thursday. singapore will be the first country to accommodate the fleet of new

the nikkei is up about a fourth of a percent. i'll leave you with a check on some other markets. >>> pakistan's high court has ordered the arrest of the former president. musharaaf returned last month hoping to make a come back in politics but now that comeback is in doubt. he faces a resounding election defeat five years ago. he lived in exile since 2009. pakistani law enforcement authorities issued the arrest warrant for him in 2011. they accused him of failing to provide adequate security for former prime minister that led to her assassination. the high court has suspended the warrant while he tried to fight the accusations. the authorities have ordered his arrest in an about face. he's living at his home. he's poised to file an objection with the supreme court. his return to politics was already looking unlikely because the election board refused to accept his candidacy. >>> new u.s. navy combat ship, the uss freedom arrived in port in singapore on thursday. singapore will be the first country to accommodate the fleet of new

the nikkei yet again stole the show here in asia. after the boj announced a fresh easing, japanese stocks paired down early weakness to finish higher by 2.2%. the japanese yen, as you just mentioned, weakened sharply against the greenback, now trading above the 95 handle. exporters turned into positive territory in the afternoon session. financial stocks, mizuho financial rallied today. and the realistic counter among the best performers with its subindex boosted by reflationary policies while the country ames to meet its 2% inflation target in two years. elsewhere, south korea extended a four-day losing streak as chery mentioned amid escalating tensions with the north. automakers under pressure given the relative strength to the yen. hyundai motor tumbled 5% and over the% respectively after announcing carbon calls in the u.s. in australia, the asx 200 ended at a two-month low. resources continued to lose their sheen on weaker commodity prices. banks were broadly weaker. india's sensex now on the move trading lower by 1.3%. elsewhere

the nikkei is down 1.6%. there's a few more business headlines in a few minutes but i'll leave you with a check on other markets for now. >>> people in north korea celebrated an important holiday on monday. people elsewhere waited nervously to see if leaders would use the occasion for military muscle. north korea leader marked the occasion with a visit to his grandfather's state run tv say he was accompanied by close aids including his uncle and mentor. it was his first appearance on state media since two weeks ago. south korea's defense minister said officials are still on high alert. >> translator: north korea is ready to launch a missile at any time. >> the minister says authorities are preparing for various kind of attacks from the north. military and police officers held a drill in seoul, rehearsed how to deal with a bomb attack on a subway station. north korea's leaders have made repeated threats targeting people in other nations. in spite of repeated calls for restraint. officials in pyongyang escalate

almost up 1% for the nikkei and the topics is up 1% as well. the nikkei ended lower yesterday, to remind viewers but did rebound quite a bit towards the close as we saw the yen reversing earlier gains on the dollar and continue over its weakening course and boosted stocks and we're seeing continuation helped by the u.s. market. we will watch closely for further indications. investors may be wary making further moves ahead of that g-20 meeting later this week as the yen's weakness has been a concern and we touched on that several times. >> we actually saw some volatility in some currency pairs but the yen is weaker now than this time on monday. >> exactly. a little bit of volatility. still on a weakening trend, currently 97.65-68. the dollar did fall to 95 yen levels after the bombing in boston and gold dropping 9% but it has come back. the u.s. data i mentioned and you covered also boosted the dollar. the euro yen, 128.72-77, that also bounced back as investors's risk appetite has recovered. there is still a heavy load of earnings coming out of

the nikkei down by 2% and the topix down by 1.6%. in addition to the jobs numbers that you're talking about we also saw a decline in nonmanufacturing ism data. to say we have had a volatile week ahead of the boj meeting would be an understatement. the nikkei had seen a 579-point swing between the low and high this week. that's a big move. the markets seem to be placing bets on whether the bank of japan will disappoint or surprise the markets. >> a lot seems to have been priced in it. also the adp private employment data in the u.s. ahead of main jobs data seem to have driven the dollar lower too. >> reporter: looking at the dollar/yen 92.80 to 81. weekless jobs claims may give it further direction. the bank of japan meeting will dictate the moves for the/yen even if a lot of it has been factored in. investors may be a little cautious. central bank decisions likely to grab the headlines today. we shouldn't expect any major moves. we're seeing the nikkei showing further declines in a pretty volatile week so far ahead of the this bank o

yesterday, we did see the nikkei fall 1% after plummeting 300 points at one stage but managed to close above 12,000. the move yesterday looked like a correction of sorts, markets taking the position of the government and bank of japan on what needs to be done to battle deflation and achieve that 2% n inflation goal as well. and markets and investors looking for further news or action. we'll see as the bank of japan meet meeting ends on thursday. ai. >> i guess they're looking for something they can sink their teeth into. tell us about the yen. we have seen it weaken a touch against the dollar ahead of that boj meeting. where do we stand right now? >>, of course. a lot of movement and a big focus for investors. dollar/yen, 93.39-40 and the yen has weakened a touch factory owners rose 3% in march boosting the dollar and slight ly the weak weakening we heard about on monday and let's not forget about the u.s. job numbers on friday. to the euro/yen. it lost a little bit on employment and manufacturing data. right now 119.70-75. with the economic indicators they're shifting focus to the pol

we're seeing the nikkei continue to power ahead. back to you. >> thanks for that report. the difference in views between germany and russia over the bank bail out in cyprus has become clear. russian president and german counselor met reporters after holding talks in hanover. pew tin sa putin said this is a special case and should never be repeated. the people who brew and bottle traditional drink in japan are looking for new customers. sake has been losing its appeal especially among younger japanese. companies are trying to generate a thirst abroad. the drop in the value of the yen is helping their cause. >> reporter: more than 1,000 drinkers gathered last month to take part in this fair. this year the official booth showcasing japanese products was bigger than ever. a number of sake brewers were there to promote their product. sake exports have more than doubled over the past ten years. that growth slow in recent years as the yen climbs to historic highs. now the yen is depreciating, sake brewers are hoping the demand will pick up again. at the trade fair visitors had a

let's remind viewers that the nikkei did close above 13,500 yet. despite talks among investors we have yet to see science igns of off. there's a bit more faith into japanese shares. we've seen the yen weaken even further falling and approaching that hundred yen level against the dollar. meanwhile the drop in pc sales may be of concern especially we saw shares in the likes of hewlett-packard. >> ramin, with regard to the yen, we were approached that psychologically crucial 100 yen level a few times but each time backed off. where are we now? >> a couple of times this week we have come close to that. it will really break the way into breaking above 100 yen level. we have fallen short of that key resistance level but traders expect for that level to be broken soon. there's already a major shift out of yen and other assets by global investors. let's have a look at the euro/yen as well. it keeps power ahead having already broken through the yen at one stage during overnight trading. we're going to keep track of fast retailing. the operator of the clothi

the nikkei was the index that got the most attention, up almost 2%.apanese companies on the nikkei got a big boost from the yen which weakened to a level that's just hovering around the triple digit mark. the yen hit an intraday high to 99.89 yen to the u.s. dollar. this weakening is a reaction to the g-20 statement that came out on friday that gave the bank of japan a pass on its stimulus measures. they did say structural changes need to be made. the major earthquake in china's sichuan province had an effect on the insurance sector in shanghai and hong kong. shares of insurers on both indices declined as we learn more information about saturday's earthquake. state media reports say 188 people have died, more than 11,000 people are injured. we also saw shares of construction-related companies rise with the expectations of major rebuilding projectscommoi. gold increased. brent oil is off of its lows, the commodity sector supported the main aussie benchmark which closed up 0.7%. this is how monday ended in asia. let's go over to nina dos santos. we gave

the nikkei rebounded on wednesday. the focus today may shift to financial and tech related shares especially as shares of apple fell in relation to one of the suppliers on its outlook sighting in ipad shipments. we're going to being looking out for component suppliers here in japan that make a lot of parts that go into products such as tablets and smart phones of which apple makes many of those as well. we keep track of that sector as well. >> kicking off later today the g-20 over in washington, d.c. as we've been reporting a lot of focus will be on the recent weakening yen. where do we stand lead of that key meeting? >> a lot of market players will be watching the g-20 meeting and the dollar/yen. that may trade in a little bit of range ahead of that meeting and it's still weaker than it was this time yesterday when it was at the mid 97 yen levels. we'll keep track of that. the euro/yen 127.54 to 59. it traded up to upper 129 during wednesday. as you can see now 127.49 to 52. there were concerns that the european centr

for april 10th and both indexes in the positive still well above the 13,000 level for the nikkei. stocks have improved dramat dramatically and we have to see if earnings reflect that positive sentiment. the focus has been on the move set in motion by the boj last week with aggressive easing measures having weakened the yen further and pushed the nikkei above the 13,000 level. the upward direction or momentum is pretty defined in that sense. however, investors found the chance every now and then, as we noted yesterday, just to take a little bit of profits on some of the gains after the recent surges higher. we also saw the dollar retreat after getting close to that 100 yen yesterday. >> we have seen the dollar come off a touch. where are some of the currencies trading this wednesday morning? >> crucial importance where the dollar yen is trading. we did see a trade as high as 99.66 sud in tokyo and it has backed off as they trade around the lower levels. 99.08-10. traders are likely to wait for further cues to breaking above that 100 level a level we haven't touched since april 14th

both index in the positive. 14,074 for the nikkei and 1,156 for the topix. we should be on the lookout for components for apple products showing smartphones and tablet devices are out-pacing pcs as a product of choice for many who want to use the web. yahoo! japan for instance has already started taking steps to introduce smartphone ready online stores ahead of pc websites. so that's a trend that we really should be watchingut for. we should also keep a eye out for financials, after u.s. stocks gains in the likes of bank america and jpmorgan led the indexes higher there. also, we had economic data. new home sales rose by 1.5% from last month. that also helped boost sentiment as well as stocks in the u.s. yuko. >> despite the positive housing news, we still haven't seen the dollar yen getting closer to 100. >> yes. that does seem to be an illusive level, doesn't it?e dollar ihold to upper 99.60-70 levels. the euro also falling a touch there. 129.5 129.53-58 after weaker than expected consensus and some think the central bank may be ready to cut interest rates

the nikkei climbed 1.58% to finish at 12,833.it reached its highest level in four years and seven months. tokyo shares got a lift due to stronger than expected monetary easing measures announced by the bank of japan on thursday. japanese securities houses specializing in online trading are getting flooded with inquiries from people looking to open new accounts. on friday, staffers at the call center of one brokerage were busy handling such inquiries as well as buy and sell orders. they say they received two times more calls than they had done the previous day. they note the number of new accounts that have been open so far this month has shown a near three-fold increase compared with the same period last year. >> translator: we had never expected a trading day like this. people were screaming with joy. >> bank of japan governor kuroda stressed his resolve to end deflation with the bank's fresh monetary easing measures. under the bold measures adopted on thursday, the central bank will, in two years, double the monetary base or th

what we expect is a very significant increase in the nikkei, a significant decrease in the value of the yen, and a lot of assets moving from japan overseas. >> yet if you look at the chart of the nikkei that we just had up over a one-year period of time, it's already up over 37%. does it need to take a break? >> the bank of japan is setting new starting points and it has performed extraordinarily well. we think it has another significant leg up. remember the large institutions will be japanese moving from japanese institutions moving from fixed income in a by way, and we think the overseas money will follow as well. how would you play it and how are some of your clinds playing it? >> it's sore of counter intuitive. a lot of the hedge funds are expecting the prices to fall. in the u.s. we see that as a competitive advantage. we like the murph sector and other sectors that will benefit. if regulation changes, we think u.s. becomes a net energy exporter, and we like that play as well. both pipe limes, other means of transport, and obviously production. >> is there any other area of the glo

the nikkei closed down 1.2%. down under, as kelly just mentioned, we saw a brutal sell-off in resources stocks with the asx 200 slipping 1.6%. and india's sensex yet again bucking the down trend and outperforming its asian peers trading higher by 0.7%. back to you. >> thanks very much for that. a supplier story for apple is an important one. we'll have more on that later in the program. first, some news out of the eurozone, where portugal is saying it's going to be able to raise funds by cutting spending elsewhere in order to maintain the market. let's get you the latest flash. it's going to press forward with cuts that affect spending on personnel, goods, services and other current spending, allowing the country to meet its 5.5% deficit target for 2013. this follows parliament voting down other measures, throwing the country's needed fund-raising into doubt and raising concern more broadly about the eurozone. but now it looks as though spending cuts compensate for the austerity measures that were rejected by the

the nikkei tumbled over 2% today on profit taking. in south korea, we got relatively muted reaction to north korea's latest war threats, the kospi a slight retreat had more to do with that chinese pmi data. the builders cap losses. india's sensex still in action, now trading higher by a modest 0.2%. as you just mentioned with the aussie, hong kong and new zealand markets closed for the easter holiday. they'll be back online tomorrow. back to you, brian. >> as mentioned, rising tensions of north and south korea, the major concerns in asia. south korea vowing to strike back quickly pt north wages any threats to its territory. >> it's probably more -- it feels close to war at times. north korea's missile res combat ready and pointing at south korean and u.s. targets now. both sides, north and south, say that they'll strike americanslessly at the other side if there's the slightest provocation. and there's that state of war that is declared by north korea on saturday and that still remains in effect as well as the threat of even preemptiv

the nikkei average, up better than 30% in 2013.t looks like this may just be the beginning for japanese stocks. there's no secret that japan's economy has been stuck in neutral for the last two decades, but the prime minister is making a big commitment to bring that economy back to life. mizuho securities usa, whose parent company is mizuho financial group, with over $2 trillion in assets is seeing a big pickup in demand by u.s. investors, looking to get in on that action in japan. let's talk about how to do that. joining me right now in a cnbc exclusive is president and ceo with mizuho security usa. john, great to see you again. really exciting action, given the fact that japan has not been an investable story for two decades. what do you see going on? >> this time, it's for real. there's a new sheriff in town. a lot of confidence in the market, a lot of confidence with him in japan. his approval rate is over 70%. and we're seeing the actions from the bank of japan in what they're doing in terms of monetary policy. >> and they con

japan's nikkei surging overnight to 4 1/2 year highs following unprecedented stimulus measures. some of the world's biggest and smartest investors have a lot riding on that trade. kate kelly is here, what's emerging as the next big hedge fund brawl. >> japanese equities and falling yen. japan bulls of late included third point, siros capital managements and a number of others. the bank of japan announcement this week it's launching a massive monetary easing program fueled the trends with the nikkei ripping upwards and yen plummeting against the collar. in an interview with cnbc's bernie lowe earlier today, george soros discussed his own bearish view on the japanese currency specifically. >> what japan is doing is actually quite dangerous, yes, because they are doing it after 25 years of just simply accumulatie inine ining deficit getting the economy going. if the yen starts to fall, which it has done, then the fall may become -- >> but another prominent hedge fund manager, kyle bass, is saying beware. particularly when it comes to doubling down on the yen by buying equities. som

hasn't been a hot story for 20 years either, and today we've got a huge rally underway, with that nikkei on fire. coming up on the program, we have an exclusive trio of interviews comes your way. wall street heavyweights reacting to the latest news in the market. we've got the ceo of tiaa-crep, noourl roubini, and wilbur ross, all coming up. >> plus, facebook boss mark zuckerberg announcing new software it's calling home. and get this, it's using google's android platform to do this. so this new htc first phone is out. facebook stock is up about 2.6% right now. google stock is lower. we have more on this develop historic that everybody's been talking about today. >> absolutely. let's check where we stand as we approach this final stretch for a thursday on wall street. the dow jones industrial average up about 36 points. obviously, you can see we're off the highs of the afternoon, which have really reached about 10:00 a.m. this morning. nasdaq composite, negative right now. take a look, the chart pattern is similar to the dow, and it has come way off of the highs, shows a decline right no

there are ways for our viewers to play the nikkei.o to japan and buy local shares of panason panasonic. >> we didn't do the fundamental research. right now his portfolio is probably not doing so well. >> he is mostly debt. that's the thing. he famously put his mortgage into yen thinking if the yen collapses it's free money for him. right? when they are doing the world's biggest printing press? >> it's unbelievable what they are doing. >> if we rose on our fed, eff t effectively their fed is doing it to the nth degree. >> this is an incredibly bold policy move. that's how far out they want to go. they want to go from deflation to 2% inflation and they're using a massive checkbook to do it. >> 100% of their population will be 80 years old. >> target's rather fat-headed idea. you will not believe what we stumbled upon. and can you name our mystery stock? fell nearly 50% last year. a company in the news in a big way today. many of you have guessed it. but that's our mystery chart. we'll tell you what it is coming up. what is coming up on

the nikkei 225 neared a five-year high briefly popping the 13,000 mark at one point. mitsubishi ufj financial up 5% and sumi realty dwomt development surged 12.6%. the yen is currently trading at 96 level. it hit the 97 yen benchmark at one point, which is a fresh 3 1/2 year low against the dollar. this helped major exporters such as toyota shares to rise 3.4% and canon up 1 is.5%. the yield on japan's benchmark ten-year note fell as low 3.15%, the lowest on record. appearing at a parliamentary hearing today, the bank boj chief kuroda said that financial markets are not yet in a bubble and are unlikely to be very soon. many analysts are seeing that the central bank has clearly changed and this uptrend will continue. back to you, ross. >> thanks for that. have a good weekend. >>> italian luxury goods prada is due to report earnings. >> and we're going to talk about that in a few moments. also, japanese start up thinks the electric rig shore is the answer. i love this. we'll be talking to the vice president of tara motors live when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ the new blackb

japan's nikkei slipped further from the near five-year high down 6% today. the dismal retail sales data jumped lower, but sharp sales jumped after the nikkei reported that the cash-strapped company has decided to sell its 9% stake in pioneer corp. >>> in south korea, an over 4% tumble on steelmakers racked on the markets. but the plant received preorders of the latest samsung gal axis s4 on friday. gold stocks sharply lower, pushing the asx 200 to post its worst daily showing in a month. india's sensex higher by 0.75%. back to you. >> thank you for that. >>> we were just talking about europe, but we have to say the story right now is gold. >> yeah. gold is continuing to sell off. we're down to two-year lows on gold. i just did 1413 is the -- >> look at 10%. how often do you see a 10% move in anything? >> when we went to 1500, it triggered a lot of -- gold has traded a lot of technicals. it's triggered a lot of -- >> is it normal, though, to see a selling moment pick up as we declined? maybe we're dropping through some of these 200 weekly moving averages. we

nikkei could go to 20,000. so we have a very bearish view, but at the same time we are long. it's a matter of how you go long and this is nominal. it's not to do with the real rally. in japan, we are long the equity market and short the yen because we think the equity market will arrive faster than the yen devalues. going forward, we might change that view and purely take a short position on the yen, even the fact that that could gather momentum. in the u.s., we are longer, but in an optional format because like two weeks ago, we were all feeling correction out of the s&p and because of ta, it was a huge unit and bid to call ratio. we could literally sell 10% of the money and by 12 calls against it, symmetric against this spot, that was a truly good way to go along, not taking too much risk inside and living a true leverage on the outside. we substituted all of our cash longs in senior positioning so that we didn't have the full body risk on the market longs, expecting a correction. but we have the leverage on

we had consumer price index coming out just before the nikkei and the topix open this morning. consumer prices in japan excludesing volatile food prices fell marking a fifth straight monthly drop compared to a year ago. that's an important factor right there. l let's have a look at the opening levels for friday. both indexes in the positive. we're approaching that 14,000 leve if we break above that it will be the highest level since june 2008. the bank of japan will release report on price trends for the upcoming two-year period. bank of japan governor will give a meeting later today. japanese prices have ended higher. investors still looking to continue to buy exporters despite some of the earnings results which were weaker than consensus. i'm talking about canon and nintendo. some big names released yesterday after the bell. sony returns a profit after aggressively selling some loss making assets. >> all the talks is about the earnings reports. it has gained attention so where is it trading this friday morning? >> let's have a look. the yen has gained just a touch. it did gai

the nikkei lost over 1% today. exporters, especially technology shares took the brunt of the selling. ny conshares slipped over 3% on the news that the cameramaker is likely to post weak operating profits for the financial year. chinese shares dipped to a new year low. medical shares tumbled after yesterday's tort-led rally boosted for the h 7 and 9 bird flu. property developers gained for the second day as the new tightened measures are part of investors' early fears. that capital gains tax may apply to properties which you can trace the original purchase price. that is not very easy, given the country doesn't have a centralized database yet. the hang seng, however, ended higher by 0.3% with gains in defensive sectors offsetting losses. the mainland banks hong kong listed shares were under great pressure today. elsewhere, sluggish u.s. data ask north korea played its war threats weighing on sentiment. the kospi lost 0.5%. australia's asx 200 managed to end higher by 0.4% after the rba left the door open for future

up goes the nikkei. the hope is that the economy will also turn around in japan. dumping money into the system means the yen is cheaper. that makes a sony tv cheaper, a toyota corolla cheaper. hopefully, the japanese will sell more of both. if it doesn't work, we could see the mother of all sovereign debt crises. caterpillar says it didn't makes amuch money as analysts expected. all economic growth starts with a caterpillar machine. fewer bulldozers. 5:54. let's check in. christina loren is off. meteorologist, rob mayeda is in. what's happening outside? >>> we have clear skies. we will finish the day. the difference right now, 50s for now. as we jump ahead, let's say, 3:00 this afternoon. in the 70s and 80s around san francisco and oakland. near 90s. near san rafael. two days that are going to look more like summer. >> we will start with the peninsula where the traffic flows as you would expect. 5:55. no delays for 101 or 280 between the south bay and san francisco, either direction. we will look at the maps and show you the same thing. crossing over the dunbmbart

both indexes in the negative. 13,537 for the nikkei and 1,143 kicking off for the topix.nvestors in tokyo should be look out for shares in the tech sector after caterpillar rose 3%. executives at the firm said that demand would pick up in china as well as emerging markets. housing data in the u.s. also weighed down touch on the dollar and that's after existing home sales fell in march. that also put a halt to any further advances in the dollar yen up to that elusive 100 yen level that everyone has been looking out for. >> haven't seen that level yet. maybe investors waiting for further data or words from the upcoming boj meeting this week. >> exactly. fundamental news and central bank news may be one focus through and the central bank of japan meets this friday. no one is expecting any further measures from what it took earlier this month. after a look at the dollar/yen at 99.19 to 21. euro/yen 129.55 to 60. people really betting the yen is going to weaken further because the measures by the bank of japan to keep rates low in japan means that major japanese constitutions

the nikkei went above 13,000. the index is up.home, mark zuckerberg unveiled the latest offering, facebook home, a collection of apps to replace your android home screen. the chairman of the board at hughlet packard are stepping down. >>> the ceo of enron may get out of jail early. he has six of a 24 year sentence for con spearty, fraud and insider training. >>> artificial technology is available to colleges nationwide that let's a computer do the grading for essays and short answers. >>> how about this junk food from pizza hut. it looks good there. if that is not your thing, folks in massachusetts can wrap their hands around dunkin' doughnuts glazed doughnut. yeah. the pork shop may soon be a thing of the past. say what? consumer research found labels on packages to be confusing. the pork and beef industries are remaining 450 cuts to give more consumer appeal. ground beef will still be ground beef. >>> just ahead, a report says president obama will go after budget cuts for social security and medicare. did the president make sexi

not so nikkei. did you see four days in a row up in japan once again.re at 4 1/2 year highs. by the way, the dxj, the wisdom tree hedged equity fund. hedge is out all of the exposure on the currency side and that's been one of the -- and they'll be here with us to talk about that as well as other developments in exchange-traded funds and not so good news over in the rest of asia, korea and sitting at the lows for the year, china. mainland, china their stock market sitting at the lows of the year and real bifurcation going in asia. earnings are beginning this week and i would say wells fargo j.p. morgan is where i began and i agree with alcoa not being a bellwether anymore. wells fargo is almost one-third of the mortgages in the united states. bottom line, early refinancings and early signs of application, and refinancings are definitely lower. watch out for them. other companies, fifth-third, and suntrust all have mortgage exposure and this is one of the reasons the banks have underperformed recently. they're only up 7% and the rest of the market up 5%.

the bank of japan's aggressive stimulus pushed the nikkei about 13,000 above that number for the first time in more than four years today. the index is up nearly 7% this week, 22% for the year and a whopping 48% since november. >>> back in the states mark zuckerberg unveiled his latest offering, facebook home, a collection of apps to replace your android home screen. >>> more drama at embattled hewlett-packard. its chairman and two other directors are stepping down. >>> jeffrey skilling, former ceo of enron may be getting out of jail early if his lawyers strike a deal with the justice department. skilling has served 6 of a 24-year sentence for conspiracy, fraud and insider trading. >>> bank of america's rolling out atms equipped for live video chats with tellers. boston and atlanta are up first for these new models which also dispense exact change. >>> "the new york times" reports new artificial intelligence technology is now available to colleges nationwide. it would let a computer do the grading for students' essays and short answers. interesting. >>> it's the weekend, so how about g

. >> i think i'm going to probably go downstairs, get me a nice, cold glass of nikkei and eat some ice cream and eat some bread. >> i give him credit, though, because he did sit there and stuck it out, as painful as it was. >> from the bronx, signing off. >> he needs to set up a video camera outside his bathroom door the next day. listen to that for pain. >>> caught on camera, the dance move that -- >> it's like a one-way ticket to a whole bunch of cracked ribs. >> >>> charlie stewart evans had an experience with an albino gopher. watch. he peaks his out of and back in. >> i do not believe this is an albino gopher. it is white, however, its eyes are not pink. >> bingo. >> so it is a white gopher, not albino. >> okay. he's coming out, he's going to grab the plants. >> no. ducks his head back in. he finally sticks it into the the hole. >> he took the whole thing. >> hopefully he has enough room in his gopher kondo for those plans. >> sure. >>> beth, wa do you get when you combine a fountain and a frisbee? these guys had this brighted in out there with his lighted fountains. watch, they h

the winner today was the nikkei up 2.53%. mitsubishi motors soared 20% after forecasting a bumper fiscal year thanks to the weaker yen and lower material costs. australia added 1.7% while lower cpi stoked the case of another rate cut. whistle bargain hunt shanghai had gaining and hang seng gained. elsewhere, apple asian suppliers helped lead tech heavy indices such as taiwan and south korea. suppliers brushed aside concerns about apple's slowing sales momentum ending higher after the tech giant reported better than expected q-2 revenue. apple's top contract maker added 6% in hong kong and 2.5% in taiwan. and au optronica added 3.46% today. and roughly 30% of revenue comes from apple also ended in the green. back to you, kelly. >> thanks very much for that. turning our attention to one of the major stories yesterday. fbi and s.e.c. looking into a fate twitter message that sent u.s. markets into a tailspin. this tweet was sent out reporting explosions at the white house injuring president obama. jay carney said the president wa

nikkei up better than 1% today. kospi in the green. only red across asia -- this is a european move. we'll continue to follow it for you this morning keeping an eye on those levels and also coming up on the program today, japan's consumer confidence did jump to a fresh six-year high. we'll get you live reaction from tokyo in a moment. and we'll take a closer look at the nature of the attacks at the boston marathon. >>> also after reporting strong numbers in europe, ford is setting its sitghts on china an phil lebeau will give us an inside look with an exclusive interview at 11:40 cet. >>> all eyes on brazil's central bank ahead of the monthly rate decision. economists expect a rate hike as inflation creeps higher and weep previ will watch that. ross westgate will report from st. paul's cathedral. >>> biggest news this morning, china's local government debt is spiraling out of control at least according to one senior chinese auditor talking to ft. he says he stopped signing off on bond sales by local governments and says the situation c

nikkei average up over 200 points. all the major japanese aprs trading up. what would be your instinct on what's happening in japan right now? >> maria, i've liked the u.s., china, and japan since last september. i would be more cautious on china. japan, the market's been down for 23 years with intermittent rallies. i would stay long japan, because they are flooding the system with money rather belatedly. the u.s., to me, i was heartened to notice that nouriel roubini agrees with my thesis about dawn of the american decade, and outlined many of the same theories i've talked about. energy revolution, money coming home, real estate turning. i think the u.s. is not just positioned for the next two or three years, but maybe the next five or ten, as the one true stand-alone economy in the world. and i'm beginning to develop that thesis more formally. and i think that, listen, while we may have a correction in stocks, i don't think it alters the long-term forecast, where the u.s. is the preeminent economy and the preeminent financial markets in the world going for

nikkei had the best april performance in 20 years while hong kong hang seng added more than half a percentmers are opening their wallets and seeing bigger paychecks. the u.s. commerce department reported consumer spending increased 0.2 of a percent in march. income grew by the same amount. analysts say it is a sign that the payroll tax increase has yet to chill spending. >>> more americans are buying homes. the national association of realtors reports pending sales jumped 1.5%. the last time it was that high april of 2010 when the government home buyers tax credit boosted sales. >>> tech companies and economic reports lifted wall street yesterday. dow finished up 106 points while the nasdaq gained almost 28. >>> the fda is investigating whether foods with added caffeine are safe. it comes as wrigley debuted a caffeinated product called alert energy gum. the fda is already looking at energy drinks and shots. the only time the fda explicitly gave permission to add caffeine was in the 1950s for sodas. >>> a prototype spacecraft that would ferry tourists into space passed a key test. virgin ga

nikkei closing near a five-year high.ite fell slightly from a three-week high it hit on friday. we have to take a quick check and see what's going on in europe. we have green arrows there. the cac up about .35%. >> caterpillar out with earnings. nine cents below what the street was expecting. revenue lower than expected. but the stock has been trading higher, believe it or not. joining us first on cnbc is the chairman and ceo of caterpillar. doug, i want to thank you for coming up on this morning. >> good morning, becky. how are you today? good to see you as always. >> good to see you too. i want to thank you for coming on. you had disappointing results. but i have to tell you you're a straight shooter. you always tell people what you see. and you don't minutes words. what's going on? why don't you tell us about what you see around the globe and what your expectations are for the full year. >> yeah. thank you, becky. really it's true. i was sitting here thinking about this. this is the first year in three years where we h

fushiko has more for us on the nikkei. >> hi, ross.e or sprint of the bank ceo have said the japanese wire giant will not raise its bid, remaining confident in the offer. he said it still stands superior. acquiring sprint is crucial to becoming a global company which is a long time dream for the ceo. net profit fell 7.8% to $2.9 billion for the fiscal year-ended in march. sales of iphone 5 were solid, but failed to make up from the profits it earned from its sales of yahoo! sales two years ago. the wireless giant posted an operating profit of $7.6 billion. if softbank successfully closes the deal to buy 70% of sprint on july 1st, it is likely that its profit could put it ahead of japan's biggest wireless carrier. back to you was ross. >>> we'll take a short break. still to come, the european slowdown is imperative. the company's eo told cnbc exclusively that she's focusing her attention. >> ross, the spanish market is clearly the biggest and most profitable for us. and there it's about keeping focused on tobacco portfolios. they are ke

the nikkei index closed down 0.4% at 13,221. but the tokyo's benchmark index trimmed earlier losses due to the yen's renewed weakness. meanwhile, south korean shares rebounded from two days of declines. the kospi ended up almost 0.1% at 1,922. the government's announcement of additional spending cheered the market. and in mainland china, the shanghai composite rose 0.6% to close at 2,194. that's after falling for three straight sessions. shares gained ground on speculation about possible deregulation. >>> and gold briefly tumbled over 10% from last weekend in new york, hitting a 26-month low. it fell to $1,338 per ounce on monday. the lowest level since february 2011. investors sold the precious metal after the pace of china's gdp growth slowed in the first quarter of this year leading to concerns that demand for gold in the country would decline. gold is typically bought as a safe haven. expectations of a recovery in the global economy have prompted investors to buy riskier assets such as stocks. the latest chinese economic dat

the nikkei added another 2.8% after gaining over 7% during the past three sessions. exporters cheered that the weaker yen after the boj launched its very first government bond buying operations later today. securities and financial stocks floored, developers rallied nearly 6% after a 12% jump last friday on reflationary policies. but elsewhere, a mixed day of trade for the rest of asia with sluggish u.s. jobs data weighing on sentiment. in china, the shanghai composite came back from a four-day weekend ending lower by 0.6%. it's really about market jitters on the bird flu situation with airliners taking a beating. but drugmakers rallied on hopes. pharma stocks light and natural added another 3.6% after soaring 30% last week. but property plays came under pressure as beijing may raise its down payment requirement for second home loans. meanwhile, property shares underperformed in hong kong on disappointing secondary housing sales. but a rebound lent support to the hang seng which finished just a few below the line. in south korea, the kospi ended down about -- excuse

the news sent the nikkei stock index soaring. elsewhere, the bank of england left its main lending rate unchanged. the european central bank in frankfurt also left its rate unchanged. the price of money is 0.75%. the hope is the low rates will encourage businesses to invest in new economic activity. >> ok, so, a lot of action there from world's central banks. let's go to the frankfurt stock exchange. there seems to have been a bit of a dramatic situation there for the dax, but overall, how is this action going down on the trading floor today? >> the fact that interest rates remain unchanged in great britain and also in the euro area has not been such a big surprise, but the words of mario druggie sounded rather pessimistic and more pessimistic than people expected. before, he said that the economic recovery of the eurozone will take a longer time than expected, and this was something that really dragged the market's down, although there are no measures that have been announced because of cyprus and also the ecb director did not t