Yusuke Ide/iStock via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang Base effects lowered inflation despite rising fuel Tokyo's consumer price inflation moderated to 1.4% year-on-year in March, below the market consensus of 1.6%. Fresh food (-4.7%) and utility (-6.6%) prices have declined for four consecutive months. They’ve been the primary drivers of declining prices. Meanwhile, transportation costs, including ga...
Yusuke Ide/iStock via Getty Images By Min Joo Kang Base effects lowered inflation despite rising fuel Tokyo's consumer price inflation moderated to 1.4% year-on-year in March, below the market consensus of 1.6%. Fresh food (-4.7%) and utility (-6.6%) prices have declined for four consecutive months. They’ve been the primary drivers of declining prices. Meanwhile, transportation costs, including gasoline prices, rose sharply to 2.7% from the previous month’s 1.8%. Core inflation excluding fresh food and energy also eased to 2.3% (vs. 2.5% in February), in line with market consensus. Going forward, we expect a greater impact from rising commodity prices. The government implemented a price cap on gasoline pricesin March and began releasing its oil reserves. This will help absorb some price shocks, but monthly growth in fuel and energy prices should accelerate next month. April is typically when businesses adjust prices for the first half of the fiscal year. Thus, we expect a sharper monthly rise starting in April. Yet, due to the base effect, headline inflation is expected to stay below 2% throughout the first half of 2026. Once base effects begin to fade, inflation is expected to rise above 2%. We expect firming inflation to support the BoJ's rate hike in the fourth quarter, or even earlier, depending on developments in the Middle East. Tokyo CPI softened mostly due to base effects related to food and energy subsidies (Source: CEIC) The BoJ tries to focus on underlying trend The BoJ introduced new CPI metrics last week that exclude institutional factors. The aim is to give markets a clearer picture of current inflation dynamics. The data showed that the inflation trend, excluding policy impacts (such as free tuition and subsidies on energy, travel and communication fees) moderated, though at a slower pace than the headline suggested and stayed above 2%. We believe that the BoJ signals a rate hike with these new CPI measure s. In addition, the March BoJ meeting minutes...
While major indexes and many growth stocks started 2026 sluggishly, investors have been finding their way back to value and dividend stocks. One beneficiary has been Altria (NYSE: MO) , which is up more than 12% year to date as of March 26. It's obviously a plus that Altria's stock is up, but its main selling point to investors is its consistently attractive dividend. It's routinely one of the hig...
While major indexes and many growth stocks started 2026 sluggishly, investors have been finding their way back to value and dividend stocks. One beneficiary has been Altria (NYSE: MO) , which is up more than 12% year to date as of March 26. It's obviously a plus that Altria's stock is up, but its main selling point to investors is its consistently attractive dividend. It's routinely one of the highest you'll find in the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) . Given its nice start to the year and lucrative dividend, is Altria a no-brainer buy? Well, it depends on the investor. Continue reading
In this video, Motley Fool contributors Jason Hall and Tyler Crowe explain why they think A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) and Toast (NYSE: TOST) look like incredible stocks to buy right now while they're on sale. *Stock prices used were from the afternoon of March 13, 2026. The video was published on March 30, 2026. Continue reading
In this video, Motley Fool contributors Jason Hall and Tyler Crowe explain why they think A.O. Smith (NYSE: AOS) and Toast (NYSE: TOST) look like incredible stocks to buy right now while they're on sale. *Stock prices used were from the afternoon of March 13, 2026. The video was published on March 30, 2026. Continue reading
STORY: From a landmark court case to a base on the moon... this is Tech Weekly. :: Tech Weekly Meta and Google lost a landmark court case in the U.S over youth addiction to social media. The tech giants were found liable for designing platforms dangerous to children and teens. The case focused on a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram at a young age because of th...
STORY: From a landmark court case to a base on the moon... this is Tech Weekly. :: Tech Weekly Meta and Google lost a landmark court case in the U.S over youth addiction to social media. The tech giants were found liable for designing platforms dangerous to children and teens. The case focused on a 20-year-old woman who said she became addicted to YouTube and Instagram at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design. Both companies were hit with damages of a combined total of $6 million but each plans to appeal. The Pentagon was temporarily blocked from blacklisting AI company Anthropic by a U.S. judge. The fallout began when Anthropic didn't allow its AI system, Claude, to be used for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the company a national security supply-chain risk - and it was blocked from certain mliitary contracts. It led Anthropic to sue in California federal court - where the judge said the administration's actions appeared aimed at punishing the firm, rather than protecting national security. The head of NASA said the U.S. 'will never again give up the moon'. Jared Isaacman further announced plans for a lunar base. "But this time the goal is not flags and footprints. This time the goal is to stay. Today, we are providing a demand signal for frequent crewed missions well beyond Artemis V." U.S. astronauts are due to fly to the moon and back without landing on the lunar surface in April as part of the Artemis program. An unusual guest joined U.S. first lady Melania Trump at a summit in Washington. A robot walked to the podium with her as other first spouses from around the world looked on. The robot introduced itself to attendees as a 'humanoid' called 'Figure 3' and said it was built in the U.S. The appearance was part of the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition summit. And sources told Reuters customer testing of Huawei's new AI chip went well. The new 950PR is designed to challenge Nvidia...
mesh cube/iStock via Getty Images South Korea has sufficient helium reserves until at least June, Reuters reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Meanwhile, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told President Lee Jae Myung during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that disruptions in helium supply were not likely during the first half. He did not elaborate but put to rest concerns over th...
mesh cube/iStock via Getty Images South Korea has sufficient helium reserves until at least June, Reuters reported, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Meanwhile, Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan told President Lee Jae Myung during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that disruptions in helium supply were not likely during the first half. He did not elaborate but put to rest concerns over the Iran war's impact on supplies of the gas crucial for chipmaking, the report added . Prices of helium, a by-product of natural gas processing, have increased following the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, which disrupted such operations in Qatar, the world's largest supplier of liquified natural gas, or LNG. However, South Korea, home to some of the chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics ( SSNLF ) and SK hynix ( HXSCL ), has enough helium inventory to ride out the first half, a government official told the news agency. The companies are also paying premiums to secure inventory, mainly from top producer the U.S., he said, noting that "price aside, securing the stock right now is the top priority." Samsung and SK hynix have four to six months worth of helium inventory, the second source, who is employed by a helium supplier to Samsung, told the news agency. Shares of Samsung fell about 5%, while SK hynix tumbled nearly 8% in South Korea on Tuesday. Samsung and SK hynix did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha. The supplier sources helium from both the U.S. and Qatar, cushioning the impact of disruption in Qatar, he added, according to the report. Last week Taiwan said its helium supplies were stable. However, some companies in the chipmaking supply chain have noted some impact was starting to be felt on production, the report added. Earlier this month, South Korean lawmaker Kim Young-bae said that South Korean companies source key chipmaking materials from the Middle East, like helium, and any supply disruption will impact chip production. SK ...
After threatening to escalate American attacks on Iran, Donald Trump has wavered, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The US president had sent more troops to the region and floated the idea of targeting energy and water assets. But now he is considering exiting the war without the Strait of Hormuz reopening, and is willing to pressure Tehran diplomatically instead, the report said, ...
After threatening to escalate American attacks on Iran, Donald Trump has wavered, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The US president had sent more troops to the region and floated the idea of targeting energy and water assets. But now he is considering exiting the war without the Strait of Hormuz reopening, and is willing to pressure Tehran diplomatically instead, the report said, citing administration officials. Since the start of the war more than a month ago, Trump has repeatedly vacillated between saying a deal with Iran is imminent and warning he’s prepared to intensify the US military campaign.—Emma Clark What You Need to Know Today An Iranian drone hit a fully laden Kuwaiti oil tanker off Dubai in one of the most significant attacks on a vessel in the war, heightening tension around the vital Strait of Hormuz. The tanker attack pushed oil prices higher, with West Texas Intermediate futures jumping almost 4% toward $107 a barrel, before paring gains with the help of the WSJ report. Tehran has targeted ships and energy infrastructure on several occasions, but attacks on vessels in and around the strait appeared to have eased in recent days. Meanwhile, Malaysia said Tehran would allow its tankers to sail through toll free. South Korean stocks slumped as rising Middle East tensions drove oil prices higher, fueling inflation concerns and damping risk appetite in the tech-heavy market. By far the world’s best-performing market until the Iran war, Korean equities have been among the hardest hit in March as fears of quicker inflation and higher interest rates led to doubts about the durability of the Artificial Intelligence boom. Keep track of the twists and turns — and the global fallout — of the war with Iran here. Just Three Firms Are Driving Europe’s €420 Billion Stock Rout Three former market darlings have accounted for over half of the €420 billion ($481 billion) wiped off European stocks this quarter. Read more US gasoline climbed above an aver...
Something shocking is happening to the world’s most powerful stocks. One month into the Iran war, six of the Magnificent Seven have entered bear market territory. Amazon.com Inc. is trading at its lowest forward price-to-earnings multiple since November 2008 — a key metric that measures the stock against expected earnings over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. has slipped to valuation...
Something shocking is happening to the world’s most powerful stocks. One month into the Iran war, six of the Magnificent Seven have entered bear market territory. Amazon.com Inc. is trading at its lowest forward price-to-earnings multiple since November 2008 — a key metric that measures the stock against expected earnings over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, Microsoft Corp. has slipped to valuation levels last seen in December 2016 — before the cloud era fully took hold and before Azure emerged a