Newscasts - Asia Markets Briefing: Asian markets mostly fall as Japan spending misses expectations

Guotai Haitong Securities Co

06/09/2024 10:00

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Source: 'Reuters - Business videos'

Description: Japanese household spending rose less than expected in July -
that's as consumers remained wary of 'loosening their purse strings' amid
higher prices in the country. This is seen as complicating the central bank's
plans to HIKE interest rates further in the coming months.
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Video Transcript:

Asian markets mostly fall as Japan spending misses expectations. Welcome to
Asia Markets Briefing. I'm Ludovica Brignola. Japanese household spending rose
less than expected in July and that's as consumers remained wary of loosening
their purse strings amid higher prices in the country. Consumer spending edged
up 0.1% in July year-on-year, compared with the median market forecast for
1.2% growth. This is seen as complicating the central bank’s plans to
hike interest rates further in the coming months. This had a negative impact
on the Nikkei that was lower today with investors awaiting the closely watched
US jobs report due out later today. That will likely set the stage for an
interest rate cut by the Fed. In Hong Kong, markets were shut today due to
super typhoon Yagi. Over in China, stocks hovered near a seven-month low,
driven by sharp falls in technology and property shares. But Chinese
brokerages jumped on the Shanghai Composite after Guotai Junan Securities
agreed to acquire rival Haitong Securities, something that may signal more M&A
activity ahead. A potential deal between CICC and China Galaxy Securities may
also be on the cards. Japanese retail giant Seven & i Holdings has turned down
Canada's Alimentation Couche Tarde’s $38.5 billion cash bid, which would
have resulted in the largest-ever buyout of a Japanese company. That's as the
owner of 7-Eleven said the takeover proposal was not in the best interest of
shareholders and was likely to face significant antitrust challenges in the
US. Japan is to hand out more subsidies for electric vehicle battery
production as much as $2.4 billion in support to related projects by companies
such as Toyota Motor. And that's as the country seeks to strengthen its
battery supply chain. And now let's take a look at next week, trade data will
be out in Japan with the current account surplus expected to go up to JPY2.58
trillion from JPY1.53 trillion revised. The second quarter GDP will also be
released on Monday. According to Reuters poll, the Japanese economy expanded
at roughly the same solid pace during the April to June quarter as initially
predicted. China is set to release its trade and inflation data in the coming
week. On the trade front, Reuters poll suggests that exports fell 6.5%
year-on-year and imports declined around 2% in August. Inflation wise, CPI is
predicted to move higher year-over-year to 0.7% PPI seen slowing further -1.4%
in August. Well, that's it from your Asia Markets Briefing