VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Central bankers and finance ministers from China, Japan and South Korea said on Sunday they remained committed to policies to support demand in the face of moderate and uneven global growth.

Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Sunday his country's government will increase investment in Asian infrastructure at a meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to Kyodo News.

Japan should aim to make nuclear energy account for between 20 and 22 percent of the country's electricity mix by 2030, with renewable energy making up slightly more, the industry ministry said on Tuesday.

One by one, Japan is turning off the lights at the giant oil-fired power plants that propelled it to the ranks of the world's top industrialized nations. With nuclear power in the doldrums after the Fukushima disaster, it's solar energy that is becoming the alternative.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Japan's credit rating by one notch after the government failed to take steps in this fiscal year's budget to offset a delay in a sales tax increase, the agency said on Monday.

Global equity markets rode to new all-time highs on Friday, with positive corporate updates in Europe and a post-dotcom-boom peak for the U.S. Nasdaq stoking investor optimism.

Negotiators for the Trans-Pacific Partnership have agreed trade rules for six broad categories as officials race to conclude a trade pact, a Japanese government source said on Thursday.

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N), the world's biggest restaurant chain, reported an 11 percent fall in quarterly revenue as it fights to recover from food scandals in China and Japan and faces tough competition at home in the United States.

Leaders of Asian and African nations called on Wednesday for a new global order that is open to emerging economic powers and leaves the "obsolete ideas" of Bretton Woods institutions in the past.

Japan's top trade negotiator sounded an optimistic note on Tuesday that he could reach a deal with the United States that is essential to creating a free trade pact covering 12 countries.

Global stock markets had a mixed start to the week on Monday and core bond yields fell as investors juggled Chinese steps to stimulate its slowing economy and a proposed telecoms deal in Europe with growing worries Greece may default.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said on Sunday that financial markets "could be surprised" if the central bank hits its 2-percent inflation target in 2016 and interest rates in Japan start to rise as a result.

The United States on Friday pressed the world's leading exporters, including Germany and Japan, to generate more economic growth within their borders, warning that the world could not rely too much on U.S. consumers.

The Japanese unit of McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) forecast deeper losses this year and said it would renovate 2,000 stores while closing underperforming outlets, as it struggles to bring back customers after a series of food safety scandals.

Japanese and U.S. officials will meet from Wednesday in a bid to strike a two-way deal giving momentum to a pan-Pacific free-trade pact, the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), ahead of a leaders' summit late this month.