Japanese stocks rose for a second straight day, trimming weekly losses on a day as investors weigh earnings reports from Japan's largest companies and Canon announced a share buyback. On the currency front, the Philippine peso reached a five-month high.
The Topix index was up 0,4% as of 1:10 pm in Tokyo, trimming the week's losses to 1,5 percent. Japanese equities have so far been the worst performer out of 24 developed countries in 2014. The MSCI Asia Pacific index was up 0,1%, while an index excluding Japan dropped 0,1%.
The poor performance of Chinese equities weighed on the result after the level of inflation in the largest Asian economy disappointed analysts' expectations. The Malaysian ringgit jumped 0,4% against the dollar, while the peso rallied 0,8% against the greenback.
In China, producer prices fell more-than-expected in April and are experiencing their steepest decline since a 31-month negative streak that began in 1997. Consumer prices decelerated to the slowest pace in 18 months.
“Markets are worried about China's continued slowdown,” said Ben Kwong, director of KGI Asia in Hong Kong. “Investors were expecting new stimulus, but it seems that the central government is becoming very selective and moderate”.
