VENTURE CAPITAL POST

The lone Federal Reserve policymaker to dissent against the U.S. central bank's decision this week to end its bond-buying stimulus said Friday that the Fed was risking its credibility by failing to take action against a worrisome drop in inflation.

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in October to its highest level since in more than seven years on growing optimism about the economy and more favorable personal financial expectations, a survey released on Friday showed.

With just five months left before Governor Haruhiko Kuroda's self-imposed deadline for banishing deflation, the Bank of Japan is preparing for failure, and the first casualty could be its facade of board unity.

India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley favors a cut in interest rates to trigger demand in the construction sector, a newspaper report said on Saturday, but the central bank has signal it will not ease policy until it is confident of lower inflation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve said on Thursday it would assume wider corporate bond spreads and a higher oil price in the most strenuous scenario it will use in next year's run of its annual check of banks' health.

Evaporating inflation and slowing growth have put financial markets into such a spin that they could inflict further damage on the world economy.

Federal Reserve officials want to tie an interest-rate rise to U.S. economic progress, but the minutes of their last policy meeting show they are struggling with how to come to grips with the dual threats of a stronger dollar and a global slowdown.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe remains "completely neutral" on whether to raise the national sales tax, Economy Minister Akira Amari said on Sunday even as he expressed concern about the strength of the country's economic recovery.

U.S. employers likely stepped up hiring in September and the jobless rate probably held at a six-year low, which could bolster bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in mid-2015.

After a weak July the U.S. consumer spending and personal income picked up pace in August while inflation remained flat, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

The dollar rose to new multi-year highs against the yen, euro and a basket of currencies on Monday, a three-month-old rally showing no signs of dissipating before a week of important economic set pieces.

Lending to euro zone households and companies contracted for the 28th month in a row in August, though at a slower pace, putting a keener spotlight on European Central Bank efforts to get credit flowing again.

Euro zone business activity has expanded at a slightly weaker pace than expected in September as firms cut prices for the 30th month in a row, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Bank of Japan bought one-year government bills at negative yields in market operations on Friday, traders said, setting a new milestone as it pushes its aggressive asset purchase scheme.

Japanese shares jumped on Thursday after the dollar vaulted to a six-year peak on the yen as the Federal Reserve's outlook for rising rates underlined the diverging path between the United states and the rest of the rich world.