Tokyo, Sydney gain on easy monetary policy views, Japan data buoys
Investing.com – Shares in Tokyo gained on upbeat data and comments from central bank officials that current monetary policy easing will continue.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.67% after the break.
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said Wednesday aggressive easing will continue as financial markets and asset prices are not overheated.
“There is no asset bubble in Japan at this point,” he told the Lower House pf Parliament’s Financial Affairs Committee.
The governor declined comment on daily fluctuations in the currency market but repeated foreign exchange rates “must reflect economic fundamentals.”
“A rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board may not necessarily cause the dollar to appreciate and the yen to depreciate,” he said.
Earlier, BoJ board member Takehiro Sato said to business leaders in central Japan that there was no need to change the pace of government bond buying now around ¥80 trillion annually.
Also, in Japan core machinery orders for April jumped 3.8%, well above the 2.0% month-on-month drop expected, and the corporate goods price index, or CPGI, for May rose 0.3%, better than the 0.2% increase month-on-month seen. The government said it has upgraded its views on machine order prospects after the latest data.
Elsewhere in Australia, comments from central bank Governor Glenn Stevens that moire rate cuts were possible for a record low 2% lifted shares.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.07%, despite earlier downbeat data.
The Westpac-MI Consumer Sentiment survey fell 6.9% in June, with the previous for May showing a 6.4% rise, putting it back below the 100 level threshold.
The survey shows RBA hopes for household demand to contribute to growth are still a bit away even after the latest monthly business survey by National Australia Bank was positive because both conditions and confidence rose above average.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were mixed after the close on Tuesday, as gains in the Consumer Goods, Financials and Basic Materials sectors led shares higher while losses in the Telecoms, Technology and Utilities sectors led shares lower.
At the close in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 0.01% to hit a new 1-month low, while the S&P 500 index climbed 0.04%, and the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.15%.
Investors continued to focus on Greek debt talks.
On Tuesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Monday that “there isn’t much time left” to reach an agreement on a cash-for-reforms deal needed to unlock more financial aid before Greece runs out of money.
Athens delayed a key debt payment to the International Monetary Fund on Friday, saying it would repay the money along with other payments due this month by the end of June.
Athens submitted new proposals for economic reforms to the European Commission on Tuesday, fuelling hopes for a breakthrough that could unlock new funding before the country runs out of money.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the two sides could reach a deal if Greece’s creditors dropped demands to cut pensions and other proposals which would push Greece deeper into recession.
Also Tuesday, data confirmed that the euro area economy grew 0.4% in the first three months of the year. But the Greek economy contracted 0.2% in the quarter, sending the country back into a recession.
[“source – investing.com”]