Nikkei leads Asia higher, China struggles to keep up

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

China's recovery has so far disappointed high expectations and the Caixin manufacturing survey due later on Monday is forecast to dip to 50.2 in June, from 50.9, and may even slip into contraction. The central bank has promised more «forceful» action to support the economy and looks likely to soon get a new boss. Something major is needed given Chinese blue chips shed 5% last quarter while much of the developed world rallied.

«As Japan found in the 1990s, it's hard work stimulating an economy experiencing a significant property slump against a backdrop of high sector debt and a falling population,» cautioned analysts at ANZ in a note. In contrast, Japanese stocks have been going gangbusters as an influx of offshore buying lifted the Nikkei almost 20% last quarter, spurred by a weak yen and hopes of Japanese firms filling any gaps created by Sino-U.S. decoupling.

Early Monday, the index was up another 1.2% and close to recent peaks. A survey from the Bank of Japan showed business sentiment improved in the second quarter as easing supply constraints and the removal of pandemic curbs lifted factory output and demand. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.2%, but has been lagging far behind Japan's market.

S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were steady ahead of the July 4 holiday, having both gained more than 6% in June. The high-flying tech sector could get another boost from news Tesla delivered a record 466,000 vehicles in the second quarter, topping market estimates of around 445,000. That followed Apple's crossing above $3 trillion in valuation for the first time on Friday and sealing the Nasdaq's best quarter in 40 years.