Good afternoon everyone. After spending most of the session in negative territory, a final hour surge sent the SHCOMP up over 3.4%, its best day since July 17. Shenzhen meanwhile also enjoyed a little bit of last hour boosting, ending the day up 4.1%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index only managed to climb 0.5%. Over in Japan, the Nikkei Average closed down 0.13%.
And now for the news:
Japanese retail sales burst through estimates. Year on year retail sales in the land of the rising sun surged 0.9% in June, beating analyst estimates for a 0.5% rise. It’s still way down compared to the previous month though. CNBC
MERS takes a chunk out of South Korean department store sales. June South Korea department store sales had to be revised down to its lowest level ever as MERS continues to plague the region. Reuters
Fanuc shares get hammered. Fanuc, the secretive Japanese robotics company that counts Dan Loeb as one of its investors, saw its shares slide over 11% today after the company slashed its profit forecast. Barron’s
Check out the newest craze among Japanese women. Moss viewing – yes, moss viewing – has apparently taken Japan by storm lately. Japan Times
Photo: Moyan Brenn