Global Round-up - 2013 Outlook
Japan - The Bank of Japan (BOJ) has agreed to double its inflation target to 2% and ease monetary policy, meeting key demands of Japan's new government.
Japan's central bank has guarded its independence and there were fears it may resist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's calls for it to do more to help growth, but the BOJ has gone further than many analysts predicted, offering to do open-ended asset purchases from 2014, expected to pump billions of yen into the economy.
"This is very good news," said Brian Redican, from Macquarie in Sydney. "For once, the BOJ has been more aggressive than the market expected. The government is clearly forcing the pace of change, which is no bad thing. The BOJ has talked about targeting inflation for years without any success, but these changes are more credible."
China - Manufacturing activity in China grew at its fastest pace in two years in January, according to data from HSBC.
The preliminary reading of the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) was 51.9, compared with 51.5 in December. Levels above 50 indicate expansion.
China's leaders have taken steps to boost the country's growth, of which manufacturing is a major component. The data is the latest sign that the world's second-largest economy is recovering after a sharp slowdown.
"Despite the still tepid external demand, the domestic-driven restocking process is likely to add steam to China's ongoing recovery in the coming months," said Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at HSBC.