Asian equities are broadly higher today as tensions in Ukraine eased for now. Nikkei rose 352.15 pts, or 2.38% to close at 15130.52, above 15000 handle again. Hong Kong HSI is also up over 300 pts at the time of writing. The positive sentiments followed the rebound in US equities on Friday after Russia said it had already finished the military exercises in southern Russia. And Russia is seeking to de-escalate the tensions. In the currency markets, major pairs and crosses are bounded in tight range as the week starts. yen and euro are generally lower while commodity currencies and sterling pared back some of last week's lost.
In its monthly report, BoJ said that "China's economy is set to sustain stable growth but excess slack in its manufacturing sector, which has a big effect on Japan's economy, remains a problem." Meanwhile, other emerging nations " may also see growth lacking momentum for a prolonged period." The outlook for exports was somewhat downgraded as BoJ said they would "head for a moderate recovery" comparing to last months' "recovering moderately". Also released from Japan, tertiary industry index dropped -0.1% mom in June, Money stock M2CD rose 3.0% yoy in July, consumer confidence rose to 41.5 in July, machine tool orders rose 37.7% yoy in July.
The economic calendar is rather light today. Swiss retail sales and Canadian housing starts will be featured.
The coming week is filled with macroeconomic updates. In Asia, China's July industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment would be due Wednesday. The government would also release report on money and credit growth during the week. In Japan, the preliminary GDP growth for 2Q14 would be due on Wednesday. The market is expecting a -7.1% saar contraction on payback for spending undertaken in advance of the consumption tax hike. The BOJ minutes for the July meeting would be due on the same day.
In European, UK's quarterly inflation for August would unlikely show any changes to the growth forecasts. However, policymakers may make some downward revisions to the short-term inflation. the key indicator affecting the BOE's monetary outlook would be the MPC's assessment of the amount of spare capacity left in the economy. In the Eurozone, GDP growth and inflation data are under the spotlight. Inflation data from Germany, France and Spain will confirm the Eurozone's final CPI for July (due on Thursday). Meanwhile, the preliminary readings of German and French GDP growth, due on Thursday, would be largely flat in the second quarter.
In the US, the July retail sales due Wednesday would show further advance in spending while initial jobless claims due Thursday might show the reading to rise to 307K in the week ended August 9 from 289K a week ago. New York Fed's Dudley and the Boston Fed's Rosengren would be speaking during the week.