Investing.com - Most major Asian bourses traded lower to start the week following a raft of regional data points.
In Asian trading Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% after the Ministry of Finance said Japanese exports increased 12.2% last month after a June rise of 7.4%. However, imports jumped 19.2%, leaving the world’s third-largest economy with a trade deficit of USD10.5 billion.
An ongoing rebound in Japanese exports could be a sign the country is starting to benefit from improving economies in the U.S. and the European Union. However, the trade deficit was well above economists’ estimates and serves as a sign that the weak yen could also be hurting resource-scarce Japan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched down 0.05% while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.28%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new vehicle sales fell 3.5% last month to 93,797 units. Nearly 97,700 new vehicles were sold there in June. Total sales on a gross, year-over-year basis are now 3% higher than they were a year earlier.
Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 fell 0.18% after after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%. On Tuesday, New Zealand will release inflation data.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.06% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.08%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.15%. Last week was the worst weekly performance by U.S. stocks thus far in 2013.
In Asian trading Monday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.11% after the Ministry of Finance said Japanese exports increased 12.2% last month after a June rise of 7.4%. However, imports jumped 19.2%, leaving the world’s third-largest economy with a trade deficit of USD10.5 billion.
An ongoing rebound in Japanese exports could be a sign the country is starting to benefit from improving economies in the U.S. and the European Union. However, the trade deficit was well above economists’ estimates and serves as a sign that the weak yen could also be hurting resource-scarce Japan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched down 0.05% while the Shanghai Composite fell 0.28%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was little changed after the Australian Bureau of Statistics said new vehicle sales fell 3.5% last month to 93,797 units. Nearly 97,700 new vehicles were sold there in June. Total sales on a gross, year-over-year basis are now 3% higher than they were a year earlier.
Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed showed short bets on the Aussie plunged to 62,721 options and futures contracts as of August 13 from an all-time high of 76,779 a week earlier.
New Zealand’s NZSE 50 fell 0.18% after after Statistics New Zealand said that New Zealand’s producer price index rose 0.6% in the second quarter following a first-quarter gain of 0.8%. Analysts expected the second-quarter increase of 0.6%.
Statistics New Zealand also said that New Zealand PPI output rose 1% last month after a 0.8% increase in June. Analysts expected a July increase of 0.7%. On Tuesday, New Zealand will release inflation data.
South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.06% while Singapore’s Straits Times Index rose 0.08%. S&P 500 futures advanced 0.15%. Last week was the worst weekly performance by U.S. stocks thus far in 2013.