see how markets here are reacting let's go to ramin mellegard. good morning. what are we seeing at the open? >> i think we are seeing a combination of a lot of factors you mentioned there, the industrial output numbers from japan and of course the fomc meeting, the weaker gdp numbers and weaker dollar all playing into what we are seeing for the nikkei. let's have a look at the opening numbers, down 1.5%. 19,760. that is over 300 points. so a pretty weak opening for thursday, april 30th. market players here taking a dovish tone following the monetary policy meeting and the statement followed the weaker than expected first quarter gdp data. analysts are segmenting that the rate hike may come later than a lot of market players had expected. we'll follow that. earnings in japan and the u.s. a big focus for a lot of investnnounced weaker than expected profit forecast and a weaker yen is offset by weaker markets in brazil canada and mexico. some of the suppliers for apple's new watch may be hit bay sharp drop in product supply after apple announced certain faults wh

let's go to ramin mellegard. from the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing this morning. >> you mentioned retail sales in the u.s. and a little bit less than spectacular, to put it that way. and we did see a slight drop in the dollar as well. let's see how that is effecting the nikkei and topix for wednesday april 15th. both down the negative of a a .25%. and the nikkei ended flat on tuesday, pretty similar to trading monday as well. investors really seem to be reluctant to take that next step after the recent record gains we've seen. exporters also may be in for a little bit of a negative sentiment as we've seen the dollar falling against the yen. it is now at the mid to lower 119 yen levels. retail sales and imf cut in growth forecast for the u.s. economy that you also mentioned ai, also pushing the dollar lower. the euro edged up against the dollar despite concerns about greece and the yen from two year lows marked yesterday. the singapore dollar interestingly rose against the u.s. dollar as the monetary authority in singapore kept its

to see how markets here are trading let's go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. ramin, what are you seeing at the open? >> very good morning to you, ai. as some of the irngz youearnings you mentioned, dupont verizon, coming in weaker than expected but pretty pass tough start here nerls. let's look at the opening levels for the nikkei and topix. the trade balance thaw just mentioned is back in black, and the nikkei is back above 20,000. look at that. so up 0.6%. the nikkei actually rallied on tuesday as well on the back of a weaker yen, helping to fwoost a lot of exporters. with he had followed panasonic and a lot of the auto sectors and back above 20,000 so that bodes pretty well. the topix also trading above 1,600 for the first time since november 2000. foreign as well as domestic funds placing a lot of buy orders according to analysts as low bond yields force investors to look for higher returns. concerns about greece always in the background holding back a little bit a sentiment and that was pretty evidence with greek stocks as the key index fell over 3%. also

ramin mellegard standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin.hat are you seeing so far? >> very good morning. definitely some positive sentiment coming out of the u.s. fed officials there revealing basically those improvements in the u.s. economy and also i know you're going to have more details on that. but some of the negatives may just be that the stronger dollar may have weighed on some of the u.s. exporters and also adding to some inflation. so some headwinds there. but let's have a look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix. pretty positive start so far. nikkei up a third of a percent for this thursday april 9th. and just a reminder. the nikkei closed wednesday at a 15-year high and we're just short of that 20,000 level now. and according to analysts hopes are strong that corporate earnings here in japan may provide another boost to sentiment, although we also may come in for a little bit of profit-taking before we get to that 20,000 level. we shall see. now, a weaker yen couples with a gradual recovery in the u.s. economy, wh

ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock exchange. how are markets look so far? >> with earnings season going to be in full swing in the u.s. a little surprise there is hesitation in the markets we saw in the u.s. also with the slightly weaker dollar against the yen we may get head winds against exporters in japan as well. let's look at how the nikkei and topix are kick off for tuesday april 14th. both in the negative in the first few minutes of trading. the nikkei was flat on monday. also a negative sentiment with regards to growth in china as trade figures showed exports fell 15% in march from a year earlier in china. that underscored the global concerns for growth in china but it's there is an old market saying that bad news is good news. that is playing into the markets here and analysts suggesting that investors are encouraged because they may get stimulus measures coming from china. if you look at the gains from the hang seng you are look at the graph right now. it has risen 17% right now. with the market capitalization setting a new record at $4 trillion u

we go to ramin mellegard who is standing by at the tokyo stock exchange. good morning. how are tokyo stocks reacting? >> pretty much on a negative note. a good morning to you. let look at the opening levels for the nikkei and the topix before i go into the factors which may guide investors today. for april 17th and the nikkei and the topix are down there half a percent for the nikkei. and it's going to be guided by the factors which drove down stocks which you mentioned in europe and the u.s. the main one being the heightened concerned over a greece exit from the eurozone especially after comments from the imf chief in washington that a delay by degrees in debt payments would not be acceptable. the unexpected rise in weekly unemployment data caused the dollar to fall. that may weigh on exporters here. and a fed official saying while there isn't a dangerous misalignment in rate expectations, weak data so far out of the u.s. has heightened uncertainty about the timing of a fed rate hike. that said there is a glimmer of hope. we had earnings from two of the biggest banks i

ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing so far? >> we saw shares of microsoft, google and amazon trade higher after hours. although some of the data out of the u.s. was on the softer side and that led the dollar a little bit lower. let's have a look at how the opening levels here for the nikkei and the topix are affected. friday april 24th. both marginally in the negative. and the nikkei maintaining that 20,000 level also closing at that level yesterday despite manufacturing data out of china dipping to a one-year low. leading investors to anticipate there might be further economic stimulus measures. we'll see how japanese rivals today will be affected by earnings from caterpillar and its expected to report a surge in profits and sales. earnings outlooks for japan will be coming thick and fast in the coming weeks and the dip in crude oil prices and commodity prices may effect negatively some of the energy related sector stocks. but the weakening yen is expected to show a record surge in profits for a lot of the exporters as well. t

so to see how markets here are starting the day, ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock exchangegood morning, ramin. what are you seeing so far? >> the weekly jobs claims numbers out of the u.s. came out a little better than market consensus and of course we had the deal on iran's nuclear development and that put a pretty positive spin on general sentiment. let's have a look at how the nikkei and the topix are kicking off for april 3rd. 19,387 up .3 of a percent. the nikkei enjoyed a pretty dramatic recovery on thursday surging to close up nearly 1 1/2%. analysts pointing out the public pension funds may have had a hand in helping propping up stocks. now, investors may hold back a touch today ahead of the key u.s. jobs data which will be released even though markets are going to be closed in the u.s. for good friday. however, there's going to be a 45-minute window of opportunity in the futures market actually on friday morning in the u.s. however, a lot of analysts saying that global market reaction on a monday will probably paint a truer picture. so all in all, we may not see ma

we go to ramin mellegard at the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing? >> wall street surrendering some of its gains. but in the u.s. we saw the biotech sector seeing losses which dragged down the main indexes and we have seen profit taking. but let's look at how tokyo is kicking off and both indexes in the positive and above 20,000 for the nikkei. it closed below that on monday. investors book profits ahead of key central bank and earnings reports this week. after the markets closed here fitch ratings downgraded japan's rating to a from a-plus but kept the reaction stable. earnings from apple, let me get to that. that will be a focus here and a lot of the component makers from japan will be see how the shares trade today ranging from toshiba, sharp and many many others. and other companies also reporting quarterly and fiscal year-end earnings here. honda is the big one today after the close. on monday let's not forget you mentioned canon but komatsu. but fannic outshining companies raising dividend pay outs. >> what can you tell us about currencies? we

ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock exchange. what are you seeing at the open?> even bad news is good news at in the markets following the weaker than expected production numbers from the u.s. analysts hoping that the fed may hold off on raising rates. let's look at the nikkei and the topix. a mixed picture. the nikkei lower, the topix just a little bit in the positive. the nikkei ended on wednesday lower for a second time this week. but the losses have welcome been negligible. and because of the weaker yen and a lot of structural changes made by japanese companies in the last quarter and fiscal year. we should also watch out for a few speed bumps and that's really relating to earnings in the u.s. bank of america came out with less than spectacular -- let's call it that way -- earnings and in the chip circuit ersandisk dropped in after hour tradings. >> and the ecb, they left rates unchanged wednesday but we saw volatility in the currency markets. what can you tell us about that? >> ups and down theres. the euro gained against the dollar after the weaker numbers

ramin mellegard joins us from the tokyo stock market. what are you seein morning? >> yeah, we are seeing the positive momentum carrying through from the u.s. and a stronger dollar should be a good guide for exporters. let's look at the opening levels for tuesday, april 21st and both indexes are higher the nikkei rupp are up but .5%. it came off lows after stimulus measures by china. however investors are keeping an eye on developments surrounding greece ahead of a meeting on friday. the earnings season is in full swing in the u.s. and we've had a mix red action there. morgan stanley with profits that have been the best since the lehman crisis. but also ibm coming out and showing a 12th straight loss in its quarterly earnings and this week we're going to see quite a few earnings results from google, microsoft, amazon and general motors. >> and we'll have earnings here in japan too. what can you tell us about that? >> one of the major names, cannon will be coming out with numbers. investors want to see if printer sales can offset losses from the camera division. and

ramin mellegard joins us for that from the tokyo stock exchange. good morning, ramin.hat are you seeing so far? >> very good morning to you, ai. indeed u.s. markets look to have shrugged off the disappointing u.s. jobs numbers. we saw the dow jones industrial average and the nasdaq up by about 2/3 of a percent. tokyo share prices also ended monday lower but not such a steep decline and we're definitely seeing markets sidestepping some of that negative sentiment and they're trading higher. of course lingering concerns about the strength of the recovery in the u.s. economy and the timeline of course for the fed's raising of rates but let's have a look at how the nikkei and topix are reacting. pretty positive. this tuesday april 7th both indexes up so far in the first few minutes of trading. just a remind dwrer nikkei despite ending monday down by 37 points -- i was going to say percent. it had been down nearly 200 points before that. so that markets did recover a touch giving investors here some confidence heading into this week. also as you mentioned there the dollar ha

what are you seeing this morning, ramin mellegard? >> investors are focusing on the earnings of visa and mastercard shares trading higher on the back of china saying it is going to open its credit market -- credit card markets to foreign firms. but let's see how the nikkei and topix are reacting for thursday and both are well into the positive. the nikkei has pierced the 20,000 level and closed at its highest level in 15 years. bulls back in charge investors sentiment continues to improve. some say that abenomics is setting a solid foundation. investors are seeing reform and restructuring in a lot of japanese companies. we have seen gains in the pharmaceutical sector autos and a lot of the consumer electronic companies as well. so really across the board, some positive sentiment flowing through japanese shares. >> the weaker yen has fuelled the positive sentiment. we are seeing the dollar rise again. what can you tell us there? >> let's have a look at it. it is keeping very firm. we are at the 120 level. it's keeping firm against the

let's get all the details from our market man, ramin mellegard. what are you seeing at the open? >> it's all getting pretty exciting as we're approaching that 20,000 level, ai. we'll see if we hit that this morning. let's not forget the nikkei's been up around 500 points since monday and it all bodes pretty well as we head into corporate earnings season here in japan. so let's have a look at the exact opening levels shall we for april 10th friday here in tokyo. 19,987 up .25%. topix trading higher as well. the nikkei has been boosted by foreign investors looking to snap up shares of japanese companies which they regard as still undervalued and attractive based on factors such as strong earnings higher dividend payments, and pretty aggressive cost-cutting measures. the fact that public pension funds here in japan are increasing their holdings of japanese stocks provides another safety net, if you will for overall support of japanese stocks. adding to that of course is the weaker yen which has been propping up a lot of exporters and positive sentiment in global markets. now let's j