VENTURE CAPITAL POST

Japan's finance minister warned on Friday about the yen's weakening, describing it as "too rapid", but he stuck to the government's stance of allowing markets to determine exchange rates and dismissed the need to intervene to halt the slide.

Asian shares took solace from data showing broad U.S. economic strength even as signs of spreading weakness in China and Europe checked risk appetite, while the yen nursed its losses after sliding to multi-year lows against the dollar and euro overnight.

Japanese retail investors' interest in domestic stocks has risen even as they have become more pessimistic on Japan's economic growth outlook this year, a Goldman Sachs Asset Management survey showed on Thursday.

Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday as investors held out hope for more robust growth after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delayed a tax hike and called an early election to seek a fresh mandate for his aggressive policies to shore up the economy.

European stocks fell back on Friday and U.S. stocks looked set to open flat after a mixed bag of euro zone growth numbers that showed France and Germany growing marginally but others like Italy still firmly in recession.

The dollar stood tall against the yen in early Asian trade on Friday, not far from this week's seven-year high as investors continued to monitor whether Japan's leader would call an election and delay a sales tax hike.

Japanese stocks scaled seven-year highs on Wednesday on growing expectations Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a planned sales tax hike to avoid damaging a fragile recovery, and call a snap election to bolster his political standing.

The yen fell to a fresh seven-year low against the dollar early on Monday, extending a massive selloff sparked by the Bank of Japan's surprise decision to boost its already huge bond-buying stimulus.

Japan's Sony Corp reported a second-quarter operating loss on Friday that was narrower than analysts had estimated, as blockbuster sales of its PlayStation 4 games console reduced the impact of a sluggish smartphone division.

Asian shares ticked higher on Friday on Wall Street's cheer after upbeat U.S. growth data, while the dollar traded around four-week highs against the yen as investors awaited the outcome of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting.

Asian equities rose on Monday, taking heart from upbeat earnings and economic data that eased recent global growth fears and sharpened risk appetite, while the dollar advanced to a three-week high against the yen.

The yen languished at two-week lows against the dollar early on Friday, having come under renewed pressure overnight after an encouraging rally on Wall Street dampened demand for the safe haven currency.

The yen scaled a one-month high against the dollar on Monday, as heightened worries about the health of the global economy continued to shore up the safe-haven Japanese currency.

Asian stocks slid on Wednesday as worries about waning global growth lifted safe-haven bonds and the yen, while shoving oil prices to their lowest in more than two years.

A second day of weak German data sent European markets into retreat on Tuesday with stocks, the euro and periphery euro zone government debt all knocked by the mounting evidence of an abrupt slowdown in the bloc's economic engine room.