In Asian trading Friday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.06% after Japan’s Statistics Bureau said the country’s national core CPI was unchanged at -0.2% in February. Economists expected the unchanged reading. Tokyo’s core CPI fell to -0.6% from 0.5% in the prior month. Analysts expected the -0.6% reading.
In a separate report, the Statistics Bureau said that Japanese household spending climbed 2.4% compared with a January reading of -0.3%. Economists expected February growth of just 0.3%. Real estate firms helped lead Japanese stocks higher.
A report by the Ministry of Finance said that Japanese capital spending plunged -8.7% in the fourth quarter from 2.2% in the third quarter. Analysts had expected Japanese capital spending to fall to -7% in the fourth quarter. The Statistics Bureau added that Japan’s unemployment rate is still 4.2%. Japan is Asia’s second-largest economy behind China. Japan and China are two of New Zealand’s top trading partners.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.31% and the Shanghai Composite dropped 0.54% after official data showed China’s February PMI fell to 50.1 from 50.4 in January. Economists expected a February reading of 50.5. Readings above 50 signal expansion, though China’s reading is barely in expansion territory.
S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.4% after AUD/USD caught a bid on the back of the weak China PMI report. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
The data deluge out of China and Japan also hampered New Zealand stocks while sending NZD/USD higher. New Zealand’s NZSE 50 is off 0.10%.
South Korea’s Kospi is the regional standout with a 1.12%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index is flat after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said monetary stimulus is not necessary in the city-state, leaving the central bank to use unconventional means to curb potential asset bubbles.
S&P 500 futures are off 0.15%.
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