By Daniel Inman
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Japanese stocks climbed for a seventh
session on Friday, reaching a fresh multiyear high, as the yen fell
against the U.S. dollar, while Hong Kong and Australian markets
rose after trade figures kicked off China's monthly economic
data.
The U.S. dollar (USDJPY) was at 95.46 yen late in Asian trading,
breaching its overnight high of 95.1 yen, the dollar's strongest
level against the yen since August 2009, and adding to the 0.8%
gain it made on Thursday.
The dollar's latest surge came as investors anticipated more
aggressive monetary policy from the Bank of Japan. The central bank
left its policy unchanged on Thursday, the last meeting for Gov.
Masaaki Shirakawa.
Expectations of easing measures are higher for next month's
meeting, when the man expected to become the next governor,
Haruhiko Kuroda, will be at the helm. Read: Bank of Japan stands
pat ahead of new leadership
The next potential catalyst for the exchange rate between the
dollar and the yen will come from the U.S., where nonfarm-payrolls
data will be released after Asian markets close.
Japanese stocks reacted well to more weakness in the yen, which
pushed the Nikkei up 2.6% to 12,283.62, its highest level since
Sept. 10, 2008.
Another factor helping sentiment in Tokyo was news that Japan's
economy pulled out of its 2012 downturn earlier than expected.
The country revised up its gross-domestic-product figures for
the October-to-December period to show a 0.2% increase in the
quarter on annualized terms, compared with last month's initial
reading of a 0.4% contraction. Read: Japan GDP grows again, but
current account weak
Benefiting from weaker yen
The effect of the softer yen in Tokyo was evident in technology
exporters, with semiconductor firms Tokyo Electron Ltd. and
Advantest Corp. (ATE) up 2.7% and 4.6% respectively.
Car makers also performed well: Mazda Motor Corp. (MZDAY) jumped
5.8% and Isuzu Motors Ltd. (ISUZY) rose 4.9%.
The Nikkei's 5.8% surge this week--the index's best weekly
performance since December 2011--makes the market Asia's best
performer so far in 2013, up 18.2%.
The rally in Japanese stocks, which started in the middle of
November, has maintained strong momentum.
This contrasts with Chinese equities, where the rally that
started late last year has lost some of its drive -- especially
this week, which started with heavy selling on Monday after Beijing
announced new measures to control the property market. Mainland
China's Shanghai Composite is now up just 2.2% year to date.
Chinese data points
Away from Japan, China's monthly economic data were in focus on
Friday. Over the weekend, China will deliver reports on inflation,
industrial output and retail sales.
The data are important because they give investors a chance to
view the pace of recovery in Asia's largest economy, though the
numbers for February could be seasonally influenced by the month
the Lunar New Year fell in this year.
First up was trade data, with China saying on Friday that in
February, the country recorded a $15.3 billion trade surplus,
compared with an expected deficit of $16 billion. A 15.2% on-year
decline in imports overshot forecasts for a 10% drop, while exports
jumped 21.8%, beating expectations for a 5% increase.
Stocks in Hong Kong were 1.4% higher after the data, though in
Mainland China the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2% as domestic
investors remained cautious ahead of inflation data out over the
weekend.
Australian stocks, which were flat in early trading, drifted
higher after the Chinese data were released. The S&P/ASX 200
ended up 0.3% at 5123.40, with miners pushing higher: Rio Tinto
Ltd. (RIO) added 1.8% and BHP Billiton (BHP) gained 0.8%.
South Korea's Kospi Composite closed less than 0.1% higher at
2006.01 and Singapore's FTSE Straits Times Index was last down
0.3%.
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