Merchandise trade down for the year, services trade up
While Canada turned positive, fourth quarter GDP slowed in G7
Central bank is not expected to rush its exit from quantitative easing
Foreign exchange gains offset by equity, bond market weakness
Merchandise trade down, services activity flat from previous quarter
Benchmark interest rate stays at minus 0.1%, taking a nimbler approach to keep financial markets stable
Kazuo Ueda has the difficult task of steering the world's third-largest economy out of a time of ultra-easy credit
Japan had been a holdout among major industrialized nations in allowing yields to rise
Rating action follows sovereign downgrade
Increased uncertainty over country’s political commitment to fiscal consolidation