let's go straight to ai uchida.his time officials decided not to raise rates. >> there he debated, but in the end, the officials decided to leave it unchanged between 0.235 and 0.5%.

let's go to ai uchida from the business desk. it seems traders are jit erie about japan. >> exactly, catherine. we're hearing from officials about the this. the net value of shares sold by these investors on japanese stock markets last week hit a record high. market sources say the foreigners are concerned about china's slow down and global economic uncertainties. specifically, they believe the strong yen is going to continue to hurt japanese exporters. sales by foreigners last week exceeded purchases by nearly 1.2 trillion yen. that's about $10.7 billion. the amount is the largest since comparable data became available in 1982. the previous record was black monday, in october 1987, when markets around the world crashed. foreign investors have been net sellers for the tenth straight week since the start of this year. they account for about 70% of the value of stock transactions in tokyo. >>> so, let's see how tokyo markets are opening this morning. for that, a stronger yen will weigh on sentiment again today. the dollar went belo

my colleague, ai uchida spoke with daniel so. he's a strategist at cnb international securities in hong kong. >> i expect 5% growth over two year. the environment is still challenging, and domestically, china's plan to reduce overcapacity, and even if they want to boost growth, it is more difficult than the past few years. and i think in the first half of this year, growth rates could drop below 6.5% and rebound in the second half. >> daniel, many people fear that slowing growth will take a big toll on jobs. what's your take? what do you think leaders will do to try to stabilize the job market? >> the job market is really a headache for the officials, and i think that the slow down in economic growth is not the only reason which caused job loss. also the structural change in the economy is also taking its toll, because china is trying to upgrade from low end labor intention sieve manufacturing to high end industry. and that means many jobs will be lost permanently. the government plans to have some impression on the job market. s

let's go straight to ai uchida. this time officials decided not to raise rates. >> there he debated, but in the end, the officials decided to leave it unchanged between 0.235 and 0.5%. the u.s. has been expanding at a moderate pace, but global and financial developments continue to pose risks. the fed raised rates in december for the first time in nine and a half years. it suggested it would continue to make further moves four times during 2016, but now the officials say it will likely be twice. >> committee continues to feel that we're in a course where the economy is improving and inflation is moving back up. and as i indicated, if events continue to unfold in that way, we're likely to gradually raise rates over time. >> yellen added the officials will look at how the economy behaves and look for any surprises. recent moves by the counterparts in japan and europe, which have lowered rates into negative territory. >>> well, u.s. stock markets ended higher, after the release of the fed's decision, the dow jones, clo

for more on this, its go to ai uchida at the business desk. >> we know sharp will be veefg $3.4 billion from hon hai, also known as fox con and that would be to rebuild sharp's business. now, sharp executives plan to use more than half of that amount to develop what are known as organic el displays. industry experts predict growing demand for the next generation products that are used in smartphones. sharp officials hope to take on the south korean rivals. sharp's reforms by increasing the presence on the japanese board. up to 2/3 board members. let's check in on markets now. share prices on wall street closed at 3 month highs. janet yellen's comments on tuesday continues to ease concerns. she suggested a cautious stanone hikes. let's see how markets here are reacting for that. ramin joins us from the stock exchange. what can you tell us. >> good morning to you. a lot of investors focusing on the next big thing. u.s. jobs data and keym manufacturing data. let's have a look at how the nikkei are kicking off, thursday, march 31st. back up the 17,000 level. yesterday, major markets in euro

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. >> good morning, catherine. they're going to be getting raises again this year, just not as much as last year. that's because managers are worried about the economic outlook, amid china's slow down. a downward trend on stock markets, in a stronger yen are adding to their concerns too. the auto industry is the trend-setter in these wage gh h negotiations. they've agreed to raise base pay. toyota and honda are $10 per month. nissan, full amount. about $27. hitachi and four other electronic makers have agreed to $13. major food maker is taking a different approach. managers want to promote a work/life balance among the employees, so they'll cut regular working hours while keeping the same base pay. another issue this year is a gap in compensation between permanent and temporary workers. restaurant chain operator has decided to raise the hourly wages of part-time and temporary staff by 2 mers % average. it will affect 100,000 workers. >>> japanese officials want to sit down with the south korean counterparts to deal

my colleague ai uchida started by asking kim how the government plans to restructure the poorly performing state-owned companies. >> policymakers said they would take the private sector facilities and inject it into companies. private corporations will be allowed to purchase stock in the state companies and they'll have a voice in management too. this will support the state enterprises become more efficient and also have them acquire know-how. the government will also introduce a system, salaries based on performance. this should help attract more talented workers. the policymakers want to expand these measures into public areas such as power utilities and transportation. >> i understand many communist party officials are taking up posts at state-owned companies. doesn't this provoke some backlash? >> some analysts say bureaucrats and high-ranking party members can get special treatment at the state-owned enterprises in the form of bribes, for example. they may resist giving this up. at the press conference this problem was raised with the chairman of the national development and reform co

japanese officials have released a key piece of economic data, ai uchida joins us from the business desk. >> i have consumer prices for you. an analysts did expect a slight increase of 0.1%, but this morning's figures come out unchanged, and that's for last month. officials at the internal affairs ministry say the consumer price index, that includes oil products, but not fresh food, is flat for february, from the same month last year. this is the second month in a row of zero growth. but when energy and all types of food are excluded, the gauge was up, rising 0.8% year on year. that rose, that figure rose for the 29th consecutive month. >>> let's check in on markets. stock prices ended marginally higher. dow jones and nasdaq inched up about 0.10%. 17,515. the nasdaq 4,773. so let's see the reaction here in tokyo this friday, for that we'll go to ramin. what are you seeing over there? >> good morning. very little momentum to speak of from the u.s. and european markets, but we have seen the dollar rising just a touch, so that might be a positive guide for exporters, and quite frankly, we'r

ai uchida join us at the business desk. what kind of things are they discussing. >> catherine, they're talking about the global economy, glowing uncertainty, but abe is key to gain some insight into prominent experts on imported domestic issues, a planned rise in the consumption tax. one of the world's most famous economi economist gave his advice, paul krugman said they should put off the hike that would raise from 8% to 10 next year. >> i am a great admirer of the policy moves by japan, but they are not good enough, and partly because the rest of us are in trouble as well. >> krugman said it's weakness, and japan has not reservinged its spiral. >> i would call for not hiking the consumption tax. it is still very much the case that japan needs fiscal policy needs to be reenforcing it not fighting it. >> japanese lawmakers say the meetings are meant to provide cover for abe should he decide to postpone the tax hike. >>> officials in mittsbushi, client united merit emret. the probe is expected to be launched from the space c

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. >> they tell us about people's spending habits, the employment situation. let's start off with household spending. now, the data shows that consumers in japan are loosening their purse strings. household spending in february posted its first increase in six months. officials at the internal affairs ministry say spending by all households with two or more members was up 1.2% in yen terms from a year ago. on average, households spent about $2,400 a month. meanwhile, the average monthly income for workers households stood at about $4,200, down about 2.4% from the previous year. the ministry officials say the unemployment rate in february was 3.3%, marking a 0.1.increase from the previous month. officials at the labor ministry say the ratio of job offers to people looking for work was at 1.28, meaning there were 128 job openings for every 100 job seekers. the figures unchanged from the previous month which was the highest ratio in about 24 years. now let's check how markets are digesting those numbers. and whether investors have any cues from wall st

ai uchida joins us from the business desk. what's happening now with this? >> we are hearing from china state-run media, they're reporting the premier said a currency war would do no good to the recovery of the global economy. he said that china doesn't support it. rather, lee said a cheaper yuan would harm china's structural reform. christine lagarde is in beijing on monday. the weakening of the yuan was one topic of conversation. lee told lagarde said china will not devalue the yuan. it's weakening against the dollar since the latter half of last year. some in china hope the government will devalue the yuan. lee's remark was apparently aimed at stabilizing the currency, and stressing the stance of pushing forward with reform to transform the economy into one led by personal consumption. let's check on markets now. u.s. stock prices ended slightly higher monday. the dow jones industrial average closed a touch higher, rose for seven sessions in a row. the tech-heavy nasdaq was also up 0.3%. we're going to see how tokyo markets are starting the trading week h

ai uchida joins us from our business desk with the latest. ai, how is it looking? >> catherine, it is a mixed picture today. there are more jobs for job seekers than there have been in decades, but people's incomes are going down. and that means they have to be careful about what they buy. so let's start with household spending. japanese shoppers were frugal in january, marking the fifth straight month of decline. officials at the internal affairs ministry say spending by all households with two or more members fell 3.1% in yen terms from a year ago. on average, households spent about $2,500 a month. meanwhile, the average monthly income for workers' households stood at $3,800, that was down 1.3% in real terms from the previous year. and the ministry officials say the unemployment rate in january was 3.2%. that's an improvement of 0.1 point from the previous month. officials at the labor ministry say the ratio to job offers to people looking for work was 1.28. that means there were 128 job openings, for every 100 job seekers. that's the highest level in about 24 ye