Even if the latest Chinese indicators remain bearish (manufacturing, for instance, is still contracting), mainland consumer sentiment has improved as shown by the rise in the Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator for June. This may augur well for the continued rise in retail sales in the coming months.
Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended the day at its highest in more than 18 years Tuesday on hopes that a deal will be carved between Greece and its creditors to avert a default and an exit from the eurozone. Other markets are also higher. Read on…
Nikkei scales 18.5-year peak Japanese shares closed up almost 0.3% Tuesday to its highest since December 1996. Other markets were also higher with the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 1.5%, while South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2%. CNBC
Chinese consumer sentiment brightens up thanks to PBOC rate cuts. The latest Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator inched up 1.1% to 112.3 this month, the first time it went up in three months. The reading was unchanged in April and May. Consumers aged 55 to 64 were the most upbeat. Financial Times (paywall)
Russia dethrones Saudi Arabia as biggest oil seller to China. For the first time ever, Russia was the biggest exporter of oil to China last month, overtaking Saudi Arabia, which fell to number three. Angola became the second biggest. Financial Times (paywall)
U.S. SEC freezes assets of China-based trader. Haijian Luo, CEO of 4399 Co, triggered suspicion after he bought around $700,000 so-called out-of-the-money call options – bets that a stock will rise – before the buyout offer for Qihoo 360 Technology was announced. The Wall Street Journal (paywall)
Citigroup banks on wealthy Asians for growth. The U.S. lender wants to double the number of its wealth-management customers in Asia to one million in the next five years. China, Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Taiwan, among others, will be the focus of the campaign. The Wall Street Journal (paywall
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