Japan's economy likely shrank sharply in the second quarter, which would be bad news for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's growth policies, but it could raise market expectations of further stimulus. Data due at 8:50 a.m. Wednesday Japan time (1950 EDT on Tuesday) will show gross domestic product contracted at a 7.1 percent annual rate from the previous three months as a sales-tax hike battered consumption, economists forecast in a Reuters poll. The deepest slide since the global financial crisis and the first in nearly two years could call into question Abe's programme of ending 15 years of deflation and tepid growth with ... (full story)