Category Archive

Lim Hui Jie & Dylan Butts@IN/DYLAN-B-7A451A107

KEY POINTS

• The Topix crossed its all-time high of 2,886.50, set in December 1989, while the Nikkei 225 surpassed an all-time high of 40,888.43 set in March.
• The Taiwan Weighted Index also reached a fresh high, surpassing its previous record of 23,406.1 set on June 20.
• Japanese companies delivered the largest wage hikes in three decades this year, according to the nation’s largest union. Workers’ pay is forecast to rise by 5.1%, according to labor union Rengo.

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Lim Hui Jie & Dylan Butts@IN/DYLAN-B-7A451A107

KEY POINTS

• The au Jibun Bank reported that Japan’s composite purchasing managers’ index fell to 49.7 in June.
• the Caixin services purchasing managers’ index showed that China’s services sector expanded for the 18th consecutive month.

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Lim Hui Jie & Dylan Butts@IN/DYLAN-B-7A451A107

KEY POINTS

• Traders in Asia assessed South Korea’s inflation rate which came in at 2.4% for June, missing expectations of economists polled by Reuters who had predicted it at 2.7%.
• The Japanese yen weakened to as much as 161.67 against the dollar, staying at 38-year lows.

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Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• China released its official PMI figures on the weekend, with its manufacturing PMI coming in at 49.5, unchanged from May and marking its second straight month in contraction territory.
• On Monday, Japan revised its first-quarter GDP contraction to 2.9% year on year, from 1.8% reported earlier.

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Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• Japan’s industrial production grew 2.8% month on month in May, beating expectations of 2% from economists polled by Reuters.
• Headline inflation for Japan’s capital city of Tokyo accelerated to 2.3% year on year in June, up from 2.2% in May.
• The yen hit fresh 38 year lows against the greenback, weakening to as low as 161.27 against the dollar.

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Lim Hui Jie & Sheila Chiang@IN/SHEILACHIANG@SHEILACHIANG

KEY POINTS

• The Japanese yen weakened to a near 38-year low late Wednesday, dropping to 160.82 against the U.S. dollar, according to FactSet data.
• Japan’s year-on-year retail sales growth for May came in at 3%, higher than the market forecast of 2%, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
• China’s industrial profits grew 3.4% year on year from January to May.

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Lim Hui Jie & Sheila Chiang@IN/SHEILACHIANG@SHEILACHIANG

KEY POINTS

• Australia’s headline inflation rate for May is 4%, compared to the 3.6% recorded in April.
• Semiconductor-related stocks such as Advantest jumped more than 6%, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, SK Hynix and MediaTek increased 1.38%, 4% and 3.25% respectively.

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Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• Investors will be watching Australia’s inflation data on Wednesday, after the country’s central bank said it discussed raising interest rates at its last meeting.
• Should inflation come in higher than expected and spur the RBA to raise rates, it would be the first major Asia-Pacific central bank to do so in an environment where investors are waiting for rate cuts, barring Japan.

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Charmaine Jacob@IN/CHARMAINEMARIAJACOB@CHARMAINEMJACOB & Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• Japan’s headline inflation rate rose to 2.8%, higher than April’s figure of 2.5%. The core inflation rate — which strips out prices of fresh food — came in lower than expected at 2.5%.
• The S&P 500 pulled back after surpassing the 5,500 mark on Thursday.

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Charmaine Jacob@IN/CHARMAINEMARIAJACOB@CHARMAINEMJACOB & Lim Hui Jie

KEY POINTS

• China kept its one- and five-year loan prime rates unchanged at 3.45% and 3.95% respectively.
• New Zealand’s economy exited a technical recession, growing 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of the year, beating Reuters poll expectations of a 0.1% expansion.

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