Tokyo stocks jump in early trade

TOKYO stocks have jumped by more than four per cent in early trade on Friday a day after the Bank of Japan unveiled fresh easing measures that sent the yen tumbling against the US dollar.

The Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange was up 4.68 per cent, or 591.08 points, to 13,225.62 several minutes after the opening.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) embarked on a new era of huge spending Thursday by unleashing a flood of easy money in its boldest attempt to drag the economy out of a long spiral of deflation.

The yen slumped against the US dollar and bond yields hit a record low after new governor Haruhiko Kuroda unveiled a doubling of the money supply and vowed no let-up in the battle against falling prices.

A weaker yen helps Japanese exporters by making their products more competitive overseas.

"The increased appeal of Japanese shares to potential overseas investors, combined with renewed weakening of the yen should lift the market still higher," SMBC Nikko Securities general manager of equities Hiroichi Nishi told Dow Jones Newswires.

The BoJ said it would expand its asset-purchase program to include riskier bets such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and real-estate investment trusts. ETFs are similar to an index fund, but are market traded like stocks.

It will also buy longer-term government bonds, a move aimed at pushing down long-term interest rates to encourage companies and individuals to borrow instead of hoarding their cash.

The bank said it wanted to boost the monetary base -- the amount of currency in circulation including commercial bank deposits in BoJ reserves -- by 60-70 trillion yen ($A606.56 billion-$A698.02 billion) annually to 270 trillion yen by the end of 2014.

The yen fell further in Tokyo morning trade, with the US dollar soaring to 96.80 yen from 96.33 yen late Thursday in New York. The euro was at 125.16 yen from 124.60 yen.

In the United States, The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 55.76 points (0.38 per cent) to 14,606.11.

View the original article here

Trade deficit narrows in February

AUSTRALIA'S trade deficit narrowed to $178 million in February, official figures show.

The February figure compared with a deficit of $1.215 billion in January 2013, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

Economists' forecasts had centred on a deficit of $1 billion.

During the month, exports rose three per cent, while imports fell one per cent, the ABS said.

View the original article here

Gillard, Abbott trade shots on immigration

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott are trading shots over which one of them is stoking fears about immigration.

Mr Abbott has accused the prime minister of demonising foreigners with a crackdown on the 457 temporary foreign worker visa program.

He said trying to turn people against them was the last thing Ms Gillard should be doing, especially in western Sydney.

People on 457 visas who have come to Australia "the right way" were the best possible migrants, the opposition leader said.

Ms Gillard hit back on Tuesday, saying Mr Abbott's words rang hollow.

"This is the man, who in the run-up to 2010 campaign and almost every day since has been out in the community ... trying to raise fear," she told Sky News, citing Mr Abbott's use of terms such as "peaceful invasion" to describe a surge in arrivals of asylum seekers by boats.

As well, the opposition leader had let his immigration spokesman Scott Morrison "stoke community fears day after day".

Ms Gillard defended her government's decision to tighten the 457 program, saying it had been riddled with rorts.

She admitted the decision had been made after she and other Labor MPs heard concerns from the community about foreign workers being preferred over Australians.

"My view is that we have a migration system that is about permanent migrants coming to our country, getting a job, being real contributors to building the nation," Ms Gillard said.

She said when there were temporary skill shortages, the government relied on 457 visas.

"But they've got to be properly administered so Australians have the reassurance of knowing if they're there with the skills, ready to do the job, then they get the job," the prime minister said.

Ms Gillard said Mr Abbott was stoking fear on the one hand while saying 457 visas would be a mainstay of the coalition's immigration system.

"Well, he needs to explain that and justify that to Australian workers who too many times worry that they or their children are going to miss out on a work opportunity," she told ABC TV.

The Migration Institute says politicians should focus on the facts around the program and not engage in a slanging match ahead of the September 14 federal election.

"I just think we need a steady mind and calm conversation going on around it, and not pitting Australian workers against some of these overseas people," chief executive Maurene Horder said.

"That's the thing I'm a little bit alarmed about - that we don't develop a political bunfight for the purposes of an election.

View the original article here