Japan's central bank has refrained from promising more stimulus for the world's third-largest economy despite equity and bond market turbulence in recent weeks.

A worldwide share plunge saw the FTSE 100 Index fall more than 100 points today as a run of pessimism on the markets pulled leading stocks further down from near-record heights seen just a few weeks ago.

The Japanese economy powered forward by an upwardly revised 1 per cent in the first quarter of the year, reflecting the impact of the Tokyo government's reflationary drive.

Shinzo Abe’s “shock and awe” tactics are having little impact on the nation’s deflationary malaise, official figures showed yesterday.

The FTSE 100’s surge towards all-time highs was brought to a spectacular halt today as panicking investors dumped shares in a global sell-off.

The yen fell to a four-year low against the dollar today as the Japanese central bank put its ambitious plan to double the ailing Far Eastern economy’s money supply into action.

London's stock market always reacts to big global news – but yesterday investors got more than they bargained for. Korean nuclear threats, the re-emergence of bird flu, eurozone fears and yesterday's scary US jobs data caused even the most optimistic punter to make a quick exit. The blue-chip index fell to a two-month low – the biggest one-day fall since 7 November last year.

The Bank of Japan launched “shock and awe” tactics today to pull the world’s third-biggest economy of its deflationary spiral with a hugh expansion of its money printing programme.

A last-minute package of rescue loans that saves Cyprus from a banking collapse and bankruptcy helped push Asian stock markets higher today.

Japanese equities were given a boost yesterday by reports that the monetary activist Haruhiko Kuroda will be named as the next governor of the Bank of Japan.

The official China Daily newspaper quotes an unnamed source from the Ministry of Culture as saying 'We are reviewing the policy...'

Japan's central bank has pumped an extra ¥10 trillion (£73bn) into its spluttering economy as policymakers pledged to review the nation's inflation target in the wake of Shinzo Abe's landslide election victory.

Olympus' former chief executive Michael Woodford yesterday dismissed as "desperate" reports that the board which ousted him is now considering tapping rival firms such as Sony and Fujifilm to raise as much as $1.3bn (£830m) in new capital.

Asian stock markets fell today as criticism by ratings agencies sparked scepticism about a historic European Union plan to fix a massive debt crisis by binding member economies closer together.