Japan PM Abe, speaking in London:

  • Says corporate wage increases have been encouraging
  • Says wages and employment must improve visibly to overcome deflation
  • Business sentiment among small, medium sized companies is positive
  • Still need to be cautious about risk of consumption tax hike dampening consumption
  • Consumption has not slowed as much as feared after tax hike

Reuters headlines from Abe’s speech.

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No response from yen, hardly surprising. There is some economic data due from Japan today which might give us some movement.

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More from Abe:

  • Says Japan is close to escaping defaltion
  • Japan seeks to balance growth and austerity packages
  • Says that stable, inexpensive energy is key to economic growth

This latter headlines crossing on Bloomberg