Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan (BoJ)’s governor, surprised markets with an unprecedented monetary package to boost the struggling economy by fuelling inflation. BoJ would expand the monetary base to ¥80tn annually, up from ¥60tn to ¥70tn.

Germany’s Federal Statistical Office stated the country’s exports to Russia fell 26% y-o-y in August due to the European Union’s sanction measures in late July. For the first eight months, exports of motor vehicles & automotive parts and machinery declined 27% and 17%, respectively.

Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden’s central bank, cut its repo rate to zero from 0.25% at this month’s monetary policy meeting to stimulate the country’s economy and counter fears of deflation. This move beat market expectations of a rate cut to 0.1%. No rate hikes are expected until mid-2016 when inflation is projected to reach its target rate of 2%.

Today, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry revealed retail sales rose 2.3% y-o-y to ¥11.2tn in September, beating estimates, following a 1.2% gain in the previous month. On a seasonally adjusted m-o-m basis, sales grew 2.7% vis-à-vis 1.9% in August.

Yesterday, the ECB reported as many as 25 of Europe’s 130 largest banks failed the exercise, comprising a stress test and an asset quality review of balance sheets as of 31st December 2013. However, about half of these banks have already mended their capital challenges, about 13 have not yet closed capital gaps and most are based in Italy.

The UK has been told it must pay an extra £1.7bn (2.1bn euros) towards the European Union’s budget because the economy has performed better than expected in recent years. The payment follows new calculations by the EU, which determines how much each member state should contribute based on gross national incomes. It would add about a fifth to the UK’s annual net contribution of £8.6bn. It comes at a time of increased pressure on David Cameron over Europe. (Source: BBC)

Tesco chairman Sir Richard Broadbent has announced that he will be leaving the firm, following the firm’s announcement of a bigger-than-forecast hole in its profits. Tesco now says that profits in the first half of the year were overstated by £263m. That is an increase from last month’s initial estimate of £250m. Tesco also reported a sharp fall in sales and profits for the first half of its financial year. (Source: BBC)

Japan’s Ministry of Finance revealed that exports grew 6.9% y-o-y in September, the most in seven months, following a 1.3% drop in August. Markets estimated a 6.5% increase. On the other hand, imports rose 6.2% y-o-y after falling 1.5% last month. The trade deficit stood at ¥958.3bn.

China’s government announced that its gross domestic product (GDP) increased 7.3% y-o-y, above the initial estimate of 7.2%. However, the economy slowed in comparison to the previous quarter growth of 7.5%. On an annualized quarterly basis the GDP rose 1.9%.

Moody’s Investors Service cut Russia’s credit rating to Baa2 from Baa1, citing weak growth prospects and depletion of the country’s reserves, following the sanctions on Ukraine. Rapidly declining oil prices have added to Russia’s economic concerns.

As per a survey by Knight Frank and Markit Economic, the UK house price sentiment index rose to 60.7 in October from 60.6 in September, ending the view of price moderation. Moreover, the future house price sentiment index climbed to 70.8 from 69.2 in September.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) stated that the new credit financing for September rose to a three-month high of ¥1.05tn, indicating the success of its monetary policies. Moreover, towards the end of September, the M2 money supply grew 12.9% y-o-y, while foreign reserves stood at US$3.89tn, down 2.6% from the previous quarter.

Germany cut its 2014 growth forecast to 1.2% from 1.8%, as estimated previously, due to the adverse impact of the weakening Eurozone. The government also reduced its projection for 2015 to 1.3% from 2% earlier.

The British Retail Consortium reported like-for-like (LFL) retail sales decline of 2.1% y-o-y in September, after rising a strong 1.3% y-o-y in August. Total sales dropped 0.8% y-o-y, the biggest fall in years, due to unusually warm weather. Sales had increased 2.7% y-o-y in the previous month.

Exports grew 15.3% y-o-y from 9.4% in August, while the imports gained 7.0% against a drop of 2.4% last month, both beating market expectations. However, the trade surplus for the month stood at US$31.0bn.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) informed today that the bank lending in Japan rose 2.3% y-o-y to ¥479.0tn in September vis-à-vis 2.2% in August. At the end of its meeting, the BoJ maintained its monetary policy and said softening measures were fruitful.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reported house prices in London dropped for the first time since January 2011, marking a slowdown in the UK housing market. The RICS price balance slipped to 30.0 in September from a downwardly revised 39.0 in August.

The International Monetary Fund reduced its global growth projection for the next year to 3.8% from 4% estimated in July. Recovery in the US economy has been largely offset by persistent weakness in the Eurozone and major slowdown in numerous emerging markets.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) upheld its record stimulus at the conclusion of its meeting today. The monetary base would be increased to ¥70tn from ¥60tn annually. A six-year low yen deferred further monetary easing. The BOJ projects consumer prices to increase in the middle term.

As per the Centre for Economics and Business Research, home prices in the UK would decrease 0.8% y-o-y in 2015, partly reversing the 7.8% y-o-y gain in 2014.

Today, the latest survey by Markit Economics in Japan reported a services PMI reading of 52.5 for September. The reading significantly exceeded 49.9 in the previous month.

A survey by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) revealed Japanese companies retained their inflation forecast of 1.5% for the coming year. These companies’ three- and five-year estimates are unchanged at 1.6% and 1.7%, respectively. Inflation forecasts were lower than the BoJ’s inflation target of 2%.

The Italian Finance Minister Pier Carlo Padoan stated the country’s GDP is likely to contract 0.3% this year, instead of growing 0.8%, as previously predicted. Estimated expansion for 2015 was also cut to 0.6% from the initial forecast of 1.3%.