Midnight Monitor

Reuters

• The Nikkei slipped 0.40% in Friday morning trading. Investors shifted funds from stock futures and into bond futures after economic data raised doubts as to how soon the Bank of Japan will raise rates.

Bloomberg

• Japan's consumer prices fell more than expected while industrial production dropped, reducing likelihood of a rise in interest rates. Core consumer prices declined 0.3% in March from a year earlier. Factory output declined 0.6%. The current benchmark interest rate stands at 0.5%.
• In London electronic trading, Brent crude settled at $67.82 a barrel, up 17 cents. In New York, crude closed on Thursday at $65.44 a barrel, up 38 cents. Crude rose due to reports of a refinery fire and threats of a production strike in Europe.

The Times Online (UK)

• ABN Amro held its annual meeting earlier today and faced infuriated shareholders angry over the proposed merger with Barclays. Shareholders accused ABN Amro's board of submitting Dutch employees to "Anglo-Saxon ways of working."

Midnight Monitor

Reuters

• Nikkei average rose 0.75% in morning trading on Thursday. Traders said overall gains were going to remain modest due to concern about earning estimates. The caution shown by most companies has disappointed most investors. Also worth noting, there is increasing concern that there is selling by both foreign and individual investors, i.e. there seems to be less demand for Japanese stocks.
• ABN Amro, one of the more recent high-profile acquisition targets, announced that it will take a US$498 million provision for an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into its money transfer activities.