In potential share-moving news, Japan’s Sony is planning to scrap the merger of its Indian unit with Zee Entertainment, more than two years after the deal was announced, over a disagreement on who will lead the $10 billion entity, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Dollar/yen <JPY=> fell in U.S. trade and was off 0.35%, with the dollar little changed against most currencies. Investors continued to digest mixed signals from Friday’s U.S. jobs and Service sector data, but focused more on Thursday’s important inflation reading as Federal Reserve policy makers ponder how soon they can pivot to cutting rates.
The Bank of Japan is expected to be an outlier this year by lifting rates out of negative territory, though interest rates in the country are likely to remain below other major economies. Last week’s 7.6 magnitude earthquake could also hinder Japan’s economic recovery and goal to let inflation rise.
“The earthquake aftermath can push back speculation of a BoJ policy tweak later this month,” John Briggs, Global Head of Economics & Markets Strategy at NatWest Markets noted in a report on Monday.
