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)

Asia This Day:Chinese Reforms Spur Stocks;Indian Gold Sales Strong;Inbee Park

The Beijing leaders are promising sweeping reforms in China in the wake of the Communist Party plenum.They will allow more private investment in state-owned enterprises;relax the one-chuild policy;expand the land rights of farmers;allow local governments to issue debt;rate officials on borrowing levels and other metrics.In response,most Asian markets rose in early Monday trading.The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.9% by early afternoon,with all 10 industry groups up.*
Indian families continue to bedeck their daughters with gold jewelry for their weddings,in spite of government efforts to reduce the purchase of imported gold.Gold bangles,necklaces,rings,tiaras and earrings are all in great demand this year.
Gold represents the status of the Indian family,the pride they take in themselves.Indian brides wear as much gold as their families can afford.A few hundred grams of gold would be a moderate purchase in one father's opinion.That's about thirty-two ounces.
The government raised import taxes three times this year in an attempt to reduce the current accounts deficit.According to the World Gold Council,however,Indian families continue to buy gold at a brisk pace.Demand will be up from 864.2 tonnes last year to 900-1,000 tonnes in 2013.*
South Korean Inbee Park won the LPGA Tour Rolex Player of the Year award Sunday-the overall season championship-after placing fourth at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational Presented by Banamex in Guadalajara,Mexico.Park is the first Korean ever to win the award.She's scored 6 victories this season-including 3 majors,giving her the most overall points.
American teenager Lexi Thompson won the tournament.