Most Asian stocks advanced as investors weighed data showing Chinese exports rose more than analysts projected last month, while imports unexpectedly fell.
SoftBank Corp climbed 2.1 percent as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴), in which the Japanese phone carrier holds a stake, prepares for a record-breaking initial public offering. Henderson Land Development Co (恆基地產) gained 2.1 percent in Hong Kong after a filing showed the developer plans to sell its Citistore retail chain to a unit. Rakuten Inc slumped 4.2 percent after the owner of Japan’s largest online mall said it is in talks to buy US Web site operator Ebates Shopping.com Inc.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent to 148.55 as of 4:32pm yesterday in Hong Kong after falling as much as 0.1 percent amid holidays across the region. About four shares advanced for every three that fell on the gauge, which climbed 0.4 percent last week on improving data. The S&P 500 Index closed last week at an all-time high even after a report showed the slowest payrolls growth this year.
“US data has been quite solid, and if you get one aberrant number, I don’t think people will change their views,” Bank of Singapore Ltd chief economist Richard Jerram said on Bloomberg TV.
“The main focus this week will be Japan and China. There’s a lot of data coming out from there,” Jerram said.
Chinese exports rose 9.4 percent last month from a year earlier, while imports slid 2.4 percent, leaving a record trade surplus of US$49.8 billion, according to a Chinese government report. That compared with median economist estimates for increases of 9 percent and 3 percent respectively.
“Investors are expecting China’s economy to improve in the second half, but they are concerned the import numbers show industrials might not be good enough to support that,” Hong Kong-based Tanrich Securities Co investment manager William Fung.
Japan’s TOPIX rose 0.4 percent. GDP contracted an annualized 7.1 percent in the three months through June, more than a preliminary reading of a 6.8 percent fall, the Japanese Cabinet Office said in Tokyo.
“The bounce Japan was looking for after the sales-tax increase hasn’t really materialized,” Jerram said.
“It seems the benefits from Bank of Japan policy, from the yen weakening, have largely faded away. It looks like the economy needs more support,” Jerram added.
The impact of the nation’s higher consumption tax extended into this quarter, with retail sales and household spending falling in July.
The Japanese government signaled last week that it is prepared to boost stimulus to help weather a further increase in the levy scheduled for October next year.
India’s S&P BSE SENSEX climbed 0.8 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.2 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index advanced 0.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index and Singapore’s Straits Times Index each lost 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.4 percent.
Markets in Taiwan, China and South Korea were closed for holidays.
Softbank gained 2.1 percent to ￥7,628 in Tokyo. Alibaba, in which Softbank holds a 34 percent stake, might raise as much as US$21.1 billion in its US IPO, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.
The Japanese carrier does not plan to sell shares during the offering, the filing showed.
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