Equity indices in the Asia-Pacific region had a mostly higher finish to the week with South Korea’s Kospi (+2.5%) narrowing this week’s loss to 7.6% while markets in New Zealand were closed for a holiday.
—Equity Markets—
Japan’s Nikkei: +1.2%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng: +0.6%
China’s Shanghai Composite: -1.0%
India’s Sensex: +1.1%
South Korea’s Kospi: +2.5%
Australia’s ASX All Ordinaries: +0.5%
Japan
June PPI 0.4% m/m (expected 0.3%; last 1.1%); 7.1% yr/yr (expected 6.8%; last 6.6%) The Japanese yen and JGBs climbed after Finance Minister Katayama said that she will encourage pension funds to increase their exposure to domestic assets.
Japanese government is expected to release the framework for its economic plan on July 21.
Malaysia’s central bank left its policy rate at 2.75%, as expected.