One a basis of quarter on quarter, the gross domestic product did not show any growth during the April through June quarter, compared with expectations in the market of an increase of 0.2%.
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Public demand rose by 0.6% and household consumption by 0.2% in comparison to the first quarter (consensus: 0.2%).
“There’s been quite a lot of strength in the yen, economic uncertainty and a bounce in oil prices, so its not surprising that [Japan] is barely growing. That’s been the average growth rate for the past five years”, Mark Jolley, equity strategist at CCB International Securities, told CNBC.
Data on Japanese industrial output is also due Monday, along with an update on Thai GDP and Singaporean retail sales.
China stocks have jumped to a seven-month high, led by property and financial shares, as investors intensified their bets that disappointing economic data for July would prod Beijing to unleash fresh stimulus.
However, shares of electronics-maker Sharp surged by as much as 17% after it said Taiwan’s Foxconn had completed its almost $4bn takeover.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4% to 139 as of 11:07 a.m.in Tokyo.
High on the US calendar this week are inflation figures for July and minutes of the last Federal Reserve meeting which might offer more clues on the chance of an interest rate hike by year end. “While U.S. equity valuations look stretched, the valuations in emerging market Asia aren’t insane”. They are now at the lows of 53 basis points, yet sojgme months before the British Exit vote they were up at 1.39 percentage.
The pound slipped nearer to a 31-year low against the dollar ($1.2798) that was seen after the Brexit referendum in the wake of data on Monday showing the price of United Kingdom homes had fallen in August to the lowest level in nine months, Reuters reported. The Australian dollar was flat at $0.7646. Annual GDP came in at 0.8% slightly above the expected 0.7% rise, and against a prior reading of a 0.9% rise reported in May.
Early on Monday, the dollar was flat at 101.30 yen JPY= and not far from important support around 100.80.
Brent crude futures were up 15 cents on Monday at $47.12 a barrel, while US crude added 18 cents to $44.67.
West Texas Intermediate crude climbed 0.5 per cent to US$44.70 (RM 180.36) a barrel, after rising 6.4 per cent last week, its best performance since April. The euro was nudging higher at $1.1171 EUR= having held in a $1.1050 to $1.1230 range for the last couple of weeks.
The S&P 500 index (.SPX) has notched 13 record intraday highs since July, including Monday’s.
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The Eurozone’s three biggest economies – Germany, France and Italy – have either slowed or completely stalled between the first and second quarters. There is the rally in the yen and worries about Japan’s prospects in overseas markets.
