Monday Newsline:Japan's Strength;Sony's Morpheus;Daniel Ricciardo

Asian shares were cheered by good data from Japan and China Monday morning,as well as a steady jobs report from the US on Friday.The MSCI Asia Pacific index rose 0.20%.
The Japanese economy grew a surprising amount in Q1,with the GDP up 6.7% versus an estimate of 5.6.Japanese manufacturing shares were strong,with Alps Electric up 4.0%;Panasonic up 3.0;and Hitachi Construction Machinery up 2.8.The Nikkei rose 0.41%.*
China showed strong exports in May,with a trade surplus of 35.9 billion dollars,up 7.0% on the year.It was the highest surplus since 2008.China's growth target is 7.5%.*
India's SENSEX index was up 0.6% on hopes new Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unveil economic reforms.*
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will travel to Washington this week to meet with President Barack Obama.The two leaders will discuss trade,Asia-Pacific affairs and Afghanistan.Australian markets were closed Monday for the Queen's Birthday holiday.*
Sony will display its Project Morpheus PS4 virtual reality headset at the E3 electronic entertainment show in Las Vegas this week.The Morpheus is a response to Facebook's Oculus headset.Sony has sold two million more Playstation 4 consoles than Microsoft's Xbox 1.
The Sony Morpheus headset is more physically attractive than the Facebook Oculus,which could be a significant edge in itself.The Morpheus features a sleeker,more stylish and space age design than the boxy Oculus.*
In sport,South Korea's Inbee Park notched another LPGA victory at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic in Waterloo,Ontario.Park shot an incredible 23 under par 61 to edge American Kristie Kerr and her 20 under par 63.China's Shanshan Feng was third with an 18 under par 63.
In motor racing,Australia's Daniel Ricciardo,24,sped to the first victory of the season for Red Bull Racing,while his teammate,World Champion Sebastian Vettel,took third at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal.It was also Ricciardo's first F1 victory,while Vettel has yet to win this year.Germany's Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG came in second on the podium.*
Sony(SNY),Panasonic(Tokyo:6752;US OTC:PCRFY),Facebook(FB)

Facebook Absorbs Oculus VR

After buying messaging service WhatsApp and expressing interest in solar drone maker Titan Aerospace,Facebook has announced its intention to acquire virtual reality startup firm Oculus VR,Inc.Facebook has one eye on Internet rivals such as Google,which is well known for its appetite for scooping up startups.
Oculus makes the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles,which are not currently available commercially.Oculus is soliciting application ideas for the big,bulky headset from software developers in fields such as gaming,film,marketing,architecture,education,design and automotive.An early problem with the goggles has been motion sickness.They are part of the wearable tech trend,which has also spawned Google glass and wristwatch smartphones.
We're making a long-term bet that immersive,virtual and augmented reality will become a part of people's daily life,Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained in a conference call.Imagine enjoying a courtside seat at a game,studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face just by putting on goggles in your home,Zuckerberg enthused.
The two billion dollar deal is mostly in Facebook stock,with only 400 million in cash being forked over by the social media titan.*
Facebook(FB),Google(GOOG)