The yen weakened to a five-year low against the dollar and Japan’s Topix (TPX) closed at the highest since 2008 on speculation the central bank will press ahead with its economic stimulus plan. Turkish shares dropped after a cabinet overhaul, while U.S. stock-index futures advanced The yen slid 0.4 percent to 104.77 per dollar at 6:54 a.m. New York time, after touching 104.84, the weakest level since October 2008, and the Topix rose 1.7 percent. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index (XU100) dropped 1.1 percent, reversing a 1.2 percent advance, while Turkey’s lira fell to a record low of 2.1038 per dollar. China’s stocks declined even as the nation’s money-market rates eased. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index indicated the gauge will extend its record, Treasuries held a two-day decline and U.S. natural gas gained 0.5 percent. Minutes of last month’s Bank of Japan policy meeting showed one board member said a slowdown in growth could represent a downward shift in trend. In the U.S., where the Federal Reserve is slowing its bond purchases, analysts said a report today will show initial jobless claims fell last week. Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan replaced 10 ministers amid a corruption probe that led three ministers to resign yesterday. “The fact that BOJ members are concerned that improvement in growth, jobs, and consumer prices may not be as robust as before signals they will take some kind of measures going forward,� said Takahiro Sekido, who worked at the BOJ before joining Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. as a Japan strategist. “Dollar-yen could test 105 as economic data in the U.S. continue to improve.� Markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany and the U.K. were closed today. Yen Retreat The yen retreated against all but one of its 16 major peers. It dropped 0.5 percent to 143.50 per euro, after touching 143.54, the weakest level since October 2008. The yield on Japan’s benchmark 10-year note added 1 1/2 basis point to 0.71 percent, the highest since Sept. 18. Japan’s currency lost 17 percent against the dollar this year, the biggest decline among 16 major currencies after the South African rand’s 18 percent drop, amid speculation the BOJ will continue unprecedented stimulus that debases the currency, while the Fed pares quantitative easing as the U.S. economy recovers. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Japan is on track to achieve its 2 percent inflation target. The central bank buys more than 7 trillion yen ($67 billion) of the nation’s bonds every month to battle deflation. Japanese Carmakers The Topix ended at 1,279.34, the highest level since August 2008, extending this year’s rally to 49 percent, the most among 24 major developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, jumped 2.9 percent in Tokyo. Nissan Motor Co. (7201), which sells more vehicles in China than any other Japanese automaker, said it was “closely monitoring� developments in Japan-China ties after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a shrine memorializing war-dead on Chairman Mao Zedong’s birthday. Turkey’s benchmark stock index headed for the lowest close since August 2012. Environment and Urban Works Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, an associate of Prime Minister Erdogan for two decades, resigned and called for the premier to step down too. Erdogan responded by reshuffling his cabinet. Turkey’s central bank said Dec. 24 it would sell at least $6 billion through the end of January and make it more costly for lenders to park foreign currencies in its coffers. The lira, this month’s worst-performer in emerging Europe and Africa, rallied 1 percent that day after Basci announced the new tightening measures. Chicago Weather U.S. natural gas climbed on speculation of increased demand for the heating fuel. The low in Chicago on Jan. 2 will be 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 14 Celsius), and 12 degrees below normal, according to AccuWeather Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania. Prices climbed 33 percent this year. Brent crude dropped 0.4 percent to $111.48 a barrel. Platinum futures jumped as much as 0.8 percent to $1,347.80 an ounce in New York, the highest since Dec. 18, on speculation a global economic recovery will boost demand for the metal used in catalytic converters, leaving a supply shortage. The London Metal Exchange is closed for holiday. Futures on the S&P 500 Index climbed 0.1 percent to 1,831.80 after a scheduled late trading start following the Christmas holiday. The gauge of U.S. stocks closed at a record high on Dec. 24 as data on U.S. durable goods and new homes sales beat analyst estimates. It has gained 29 percent this year, on course for its biggest annual advance since 1997. Jobless Claims Shares of Amazon.com Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. may move as the largest online retailer offered refunds on shipping charges after the biggest package-delivery company said overwhelming volume left it unable to deliver some packages by Christmas. Treasury 10-year yields rose one basis point to 2.99 percent. Initial jobless claims in the U.S. fell to 345,000 in the period ended Dec. 21, from 379,000 the previous week, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The Fed said on Dec. 18 that it will reduce the pace of bond buying amid faster-than-estimated economic growth. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4 percent, gaining for an eighth day and poised for the longest rally in three months. China’s stocks fell, led by coal and auto shares, amid investor disappointment the government didn’t take further measures to ease a cash crunch. Money-market rates eased for a third day. The Shanghai Composite Index (SHCOMP) lost 1.6 percent to 2,073.10 at the close, the lowest level since Aug. 23. The People’s Bank of China didn’t conduct reverse-repurchase operations today, after injecting funds into the inter-bank market for the first time in three weeks on Dec. 24 to ease a cash crunch. Money Markets China’s seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of funding availability in the banking system, dropped 30 basis points to 5.33 percent, according to a daily fixing by the National Interbank Funding Center. The country’s economic growth this year is likely to come in at 7.6 percent, compared with the government’s 7.5 percent target, Xinhua News Agency said, citing a report by the State Council. A 7.6 percent pace would mark a third straight annual drop in the expansion rate. Australia’s dollar declined against all 16 major peers, dropping 0.4 percent to 88.88 U.S. cents. To contact the reporters on this story: Glenys Sim in Singapore at gsim4@bloomberg.net; Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net

Source