Tokyo stocks ended lower Wednesday, as investors were cautious about prospects of the U.S. shares after recent firm economic data dented hopes for imminent interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average ended down 102.

About 85.7% of Japanese households expect prices to rise a year from now, a quarterly central bank survey in December showed on Friday, roughly unchanged from 85.6% in the previous poll in September.

Japan’s central bank isn’t responsible for the bloodbath. But it’s reliving a terrible habit of hiking rates at the worst possible time.

Japan Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato issued a fresh warning against speculative yen selling on Tuesday, as the Japanese currency approached the key 160 per dollar level that prompted yen-buying interventions half a year ago.

The Nikkei stock index snapped a five-day losing streak Thursday on optimism over the U.S. economy as hopes grew for further interest

World shares are higher ahead of the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, while bitcoin surged to a record high.

The Bank of Japan looks set to raise interest rates this week unless Trump’s inauguration address as U.S. president on Monday rattles financial markets, say people familiar with the central bank’s thinking.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Bank of Japan is expected to raise interest rates on Friday barring any market shocks when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office, a move that would lift short-term borrowing costs to levels unseen since the 2008 global financial crisis.

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda will size up the need to raise interest rates on Friday amid heightened expectations of a hike — and barring a market shock triggered by Donald Trump’s first few days in the White House.

Japan's ambition to deliver a primary budget surplus for the first time in decades is going to be pushed back a year, a government estimate showed on Friday, as pressures for more spending weigh on the state budget this year.

Shares were mostly lower in Asia on Friday after China reported that its economy grew at a 5% annual pace last year, hitting the government’s target but slowing from the year before. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices also climbed.

Global shares are mostly higher following a rally on Wall Street driven by encouraging update on U.S. inflation. Oil prices slipped and U.S. futures edged higher.