Japan

Consumer spending in the United States was tepid in May as households faced rising prices and automakers failed to manufacture new models because of a disaster in Japan.

Adjusted for inflation, the spending dropped by 0.1%, reports the Commerce Department. It is the second consecutive decline.

The Department said in the report that consumer spending would offer little support to the economy in the second quarter.

The Japanese yen further slipped during the European trades on Tuesday against major currencies.

The yen plunged today as Moody's Investors Service placed the Japanese government's Aa2 local and foreign currency bond ratings on review for possible downgrade.

The rating agency said that the review was prompted by concern that faltering economic prospects and a weak policy response would make the government's ability to achieve a credible deficit reduction target more challenging.

US gross domestic product may be reduced only by one-half of 1 percent at worst as a result of a Japanese crisis, said Brian Levitt, economist at Oppenheimer Funds.

According to Levitt’s view, exports account for only 10 percent of U.S. GDP, and Japan accounts for only 5 percent of that number. "Five percent of U.S. exports—10 percent of the U.S. economy—so one-half of one percent to U.S. GDP at the absolute worst," he told CNBC Wednesday.

Gold prices firmed during Wednesday trades in Europe as investors took advantage of the previous day's 2 percent price drop to buy the metal, and as the extreme risk aversion that prompted a flight to liquidity on Tuesday eased.

Spot gold was trading at $1,398.44 an ounce at 1045 GMT, against $1,393.95 late in New York on Tuesday, while U.S. gold futures for April delivery rose $5.80 to $1,398.60.

Gold prices dropped by more than 1% on Tuesday as stocks market declined on nuclear crisis in Japan while holdings on the ETF fell to their lowest since May last year.

Silver fell around 3 percent. Platinum and palladium gave up early gains and dropped more than 1 percent after Japanese shares slumped for a second day on Tuesday as two fresh explosions rocked a stricken nuclear plant.

Cyber crooks unsurprisingly pounced on the tragedy in Japan using earthquake and tsunami reports for their own venal purposes. According to the reports by security researchers scams come ranging from links to fake anti-virus downloads and phony donation sites to classic online swindles that rely on greed.

Gold increased by 1% Monday as Japan is taking every effort to prevent a nuclear catastrophe after a massive earthquake and tsunami, sending premiums for gold bars to their highest level since February in Tokyo.

A badly wounded nation has seen whole villages and towns wiped off the map by a wall of water, bringing in its wake an international humanitarian effort of epic scale. More than 10,000 people are feared to have been killed.

Yahoo may sell its last stake in its joint venture with Japanese mobile phone operator Softbank Corp in a move to have a better focus on Chinese assets.

At the moment Yahoo is in advanced talks with Softbank to transfer its 35% stake in Yahoo Japan entirely to the Japanese stakeholder who already owns 42% of the JV. The public value of the stake is about $8 billion.

Standard & Poor’s rating agency has cut Japan’s long-term sovereign debt rating today for the first time within 8 years since 2002 explaining that the country's government lacked a coherent plan to tackle its mounting debt.

The rating for the largest Asian economy was downgraded to AA-, three levels below the highest possible rating, which serves as a warning sign for other developed nations such as those in Europe and the United States, of the growing concerns about the debt built up during the global financial crisis.

In early European session the greenback appreciated against a basket of major currencies after the ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Japan's credit rating, citing the country's mounting debt load.

The dollar appreciated almost 1.5 percent to reach more than a 2-week high of 83.23 against the yen on S&P's downgrade from its early Asian session low of 82.03. On the upside, 83.70 is seen as the next likely resistance level for the greenback.

The survey of Japanese consumers revealed that smartphones and Twitter were the the hottest products in Japan in 2010 while travel and leisure were back on the menu.

Dentsu's annual "Hit Product Recognition Survey" revealed that flat-screen TVs equipped for digital broadcasting were ranked fourth, and energy-saving appliances ranked eighth.

The poll shows that tablet information devices, such as Apple's iPad, came in at 19th, the survey showed, but rose to No.10 in a separate question that predicted hit products and services next year.

According to a new survey Japanese users were the most connected with three-quarters of users accessing mobile media in June. The research by comScore studied mobile usage and behavior in Europe, the U.S., and Japan. Social networking had the highest reach among U.S. smartphone users, while Europeans text the most.

The survey that analyzed cross-market mobile activities in Japan, the U.S., and Europe revealed significant differences among consumers by geography.

During early Asian deals on Tuesday the Japanese yen declined after the Bank of Japan decided to lower its overnight lending rate further to between 0-0.1% from 0.1%, amid widespread concerns the Japanese economy could slump back into recession. The yen decreased to an 11-day low against the franc and a 6-day low against the dollar and the pound.

The Japanese unit plummeted across the board in early Asian deals on Wednesday as Japan intervened in the currency market for the first time since early 2004 to stem the yen's surge against the dollar that threatens a fragile economic recovery.

Central banks intervened in the foreign exchange market when they buy or sell currencies to influence exchange rates.

Google was selected by the Japanese as the best brand overtaking thus Microsoft that came the second, according to the results of a major Japanese survey of corporate brand perception. The search giant continues its growth in Japan and it easily attracts more traffic monthly as compared with Microsoft web sites.

Meantime, Microsoft has held its advantageous position for years in the region due to its long history in Japan and deep ties with local IT vendors.