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.*
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Business Briefing Asia

There's a bit more value in Apple than in Facebook,in our view,said Khiem Do,Head of Asian Equities and Chairman of the Multi-Asset Group at Baring Asset Management.I think it's more sensible now.*
Investors have to realise that 5-6% is quite a good growth rate for China.That's what we predict long term for China.I think that money is too tight in China.*
In India,extrapolating what leading prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi did for business in a province to the whole country is a delusion.The SENSEX index is overvalued,Mr.Khiem noted.*
Malaysia's Bank Rakyat will acquire its own satellite,likely in 2016.The satellite will solve the bank's problem of the huge amount of communication cost.The bank is spending up to 43.5 million dollars a year to support communication across the island chain of Indonesia.*
The tech startup firm Nix Play offered a demonstration of its Wifi Cloud Digital Photo Frame on Bloomberg TV.Sydney correspondent Dan Petrie successfully sent a selfie from his cell phone in Australia to Hong Kong.Nix Play has sold over 10,000 of these real time cloud frames.On a day to day basis,it is said to save 66% in costs to be on the cloud.*

Asia This Day:Markets Fall on US Shutdown Worry

The MSCI Asia Pacific index fell 1.1% in early Monday trading on fears of a US Government shutdown at midnight because of the budget impasse in Washington.All 10 industry groups in the index retreated.*
Also looming in Washington is the conflict in Congress over raising the debt ceiling,which is necessary for the US Government to continue borrowing the money it needs to sustain itself.The decline in Asian stocks is really a matter of selling into the strength of the Asia Pacific index's 7% gain in September,in light of the impending double fiscal crisis in US Government finances.*
Both Hong Kong and mainland China markets will be closed Tuesday for a holiday,and mainland markets won't reopen till October 8.*
The HSBC-Markit Economics Performance Manufacturing Index for China came in at 50.2 in September versus 50.1 in August,missing the estimate.*
A comment by Gurbat on Bloomberg's website said the BSE Sensex is poised to increase its downward momentum.The only bright hope is the holiday season for the next six weeks.But given current dynamics the best you can hope for is a retest of highs this year.Added faintandfuzzy:Nice to see US politicians acting like children again...taking the rest of the world economy with them.*
About 19.6% of Hong Kong's citizens are now poor,a new report for the territory's Chief Executive said.Home prices there have doubled since 2009.A family of three has a median income of 23,100 Hong Kong/2979 US dollars per month,according to government figures.
Poverty affects Hong Kong's harmony and stability,thus affecting its long term competitiveness,Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said Saturday.In 2012,the number of millionaires in Hong Kong rose 35.7%,to 114,000,a Cap Gemini-RBC report indicated.

Asia This Day:Chinese Manufacturing Looks Good;India Warns of Risk

The HSBC China Purchasing Managers Index rose to 51.5 in December,up from 50.5 in November.It climbed at the fatsest pace since May 2011,and more than expected.A reading over 50 indicates growth in the sector.The Australian dollar extended this year's gain on the China PMI data.
India cut its coal imports by 13% in November.The SENSEX stock-index futures fell when the Royal Bank of India warned of rising risks to the economy in light of the grim outlook for global growth.
Japan's Nikkei stock index has risen 23% in 2012.It is the index's first annual rise in three years.
In early New Year's Eve trading,the Nikkei was up 0.70%.Hong Kong's Heng Seng index was virtually flat,down by 0.04%,while Australia's ASX 200 index fell 0.48%.
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