Japan's government on Friday brushed aside rare and explicit comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent who said the Bank of Japan was "behind the curve" on policy, which appeared to be aimed at pressuring the country's central bank into raising interest rates.

Gross domestic product grew at an annualized pace of 1% in the three months through June from the prior period, surpassing economists’ forecast of a 0.4% gain, the Cabinet Office reported Friday. Gains were led by business investment,

Despite a solid H1, we maintain our 2025 growth forecast at 0.8%, as downside growth risks to activity may start to kick in from Q4." "Our house view is for the next BoJ hike in Q4 with risks skewed towards an October move,