Asia This Day:Chinese Economy Still Under Pressure,Premier Says

Japan's machinery orders dropped 14.8%,which is seven times worse than estimates.As well,the current account balance fell about 63%,reflecting a drop in chemical and aerospace orders,and increased imports of liquefied natural gas.The Kansai Electric Ohi nuclear reactor number 3 is now running at full capacity,having been restarted last week,but it only supplies 2% of the country's electricity.A lot of LNG imports will still be needed until other reactors come back into service.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said China will continue to intensify pre-emptive fine-tuning of policy.There are still relatively large downward pressures on the economy.Real estate market controls will continue,as speculation must be stopped.Don't expect such controls to be eased anytime soon.China's inflation declined for the fifth consecutive month below Mr.Wen's 4% target rate,settling at 2.2 %,below the 2.3% estimate.
Shares of Australian miners Iluka Resources and BHP Billiton dropped on fears of a Chinese hard landing and worsening global demand generally.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was down 0.82% in early Monday trading,while India's Nifty Fifty futures index declined on the Chinese inflation numbers and U.S. jobs stagnation.The Chinese low inflation figures are being seen by analysts as a confirmation of continued weakness.
On a lighter note,South Korean golfer Na Yeon Choi,24,won the Women's U.S. Open at Black Wolf Run in Wisconsin.She survived some harrowing mistakes on the back nine with cool-headed recovery shots,earning her first major victory and her sixth total win on the LPGA Tour.Her countrywoman Amy Yang was second on the leaderboard.
BHP Billiton,Ltd.(BHP),Iluka Resources,Ltd.(ASE:ILU)

Asia This Day:Growth and a Sale

China's 2012 growth is expected to expand at the slowest pace in 13 years,a recent survey predicts.People have got to expect Chinese growth in the low 7s,said currency expert Chris Gothard of Brown Brothers Harriman.Responding to this,China's outgoing President,Wen Jiabao,called for a proactive fiscal and a prudent monetary policy,while giving more priority to maintaining growth.For its part,Thailand is recovering nicely from last year's devastating flooding around the capital,Bangkok.The nation grew 11% on the quarter,with both domestic spending and tourism gaining momentum.On the year,Thai growth was up 0.3%,beating the estimate of a -0.5% loss.Back in China,Internet titan Alibaba is buying back 20% of a stake in it held by Yahoo for 7.1 billion dollars-6.8 billion of that will be in cash.Yahoo will still own more than 50% of Alibaba with Softbank.Yahoo is considering a massive share buyback with the proceeds of the sale.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2% this morning,Monday. Yahoo(YHOO)

Asia This Day

Hong Kong saw partly sunny weather at noontime Monday.It was 90F,and the wind was SW at 7 mph.The humidity was 62% and thunderstorms were in the forecast.
Asian shares were down across the board on concern about European debt,except for Shanghai's,which climbed 0.4.
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao was visiting Europe.He pledged China's long term support for Europe and the Euro.China would continue to buy both Euro bonds and European sovereign debt,including Hungarian bonds.
The New Zealand dollar fell as the country's trade surplus narrowed by more than 40%.New Zealand still had exports exceeding imports by 605 million New Zealand dollars in May.
India's inflation is at 9.1%,and diesel price increases will send it even higher.Nonetheless,Nomura Securities has turned positive on Indian stocks,citing subsiding headwinds.
Shanghai ports expect sea cargo to rise 10% annually as industrial plants move inland.They will ship to the ports as their cargo volumes increase along the Yangtze River.
Japanese electeicity rates are expected to go up by 18% because of lost nuclear capacity in the wake of March's earthquake and tsunami,the Nikkei newspaper reported.