“The yen strengthened and Asian shares retreated after a third quarterly advance as economic data from Japan, China and South Korea missed estimates. Commodities declined, while U.S. equity-index futures erased losses and Treasuries retreated.
The yen appreciated 0.5 percent against the dollar at 7:50 a.m. in New York, after declining for a sixth month in March, the longest losing streak in 12 years. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.2 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) futures added less than 0.1 percent after reaching a record last week. The yield on 10-year Treasuries rose three basis points. The S&P GSCI Index of 24 commodities fell 0.6 percent, with copper and oil sliding in New York. Markets in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and most of Europe are closed.
The Bank of Japan’s Tankan index of confidence among large manufacturers improved less than estimated in March, South Korean exports rose 0.4 percent, missing the 1.8 percent gain predicted in a Bloomberg survey, and a pickup in China’s factory output trailed forecasts. Shares retreated today after global stocks beat all other investments for a second quarter in the first three months of the year, the first back-to-back outperformance since 2009.
“We need to see the economy showing signs of improvement and inflation numbers picking up in Japan,” Vasu Menon, head of content and research at OCBC Bank Ltd. in Singapore, said on Bloomberg Television’s On the Move with Rishaad Salamat. “China is recovering, but the recovery is going to be a modest one.”
