Surprise trade surplus for Japan

Japan's export slump eased in April, leading to an unexpected trade surplus for the world's second largest economy, official figures show.

Exports fell by 39.1% compared with the same month last year, slightly better than the 45.6% fall recorded in March.

This resulted in a trade surplus of 68.9bn yen ($722.7bn; £452.7bn), much better than economists had expected and Japan's third straight monthly surplus.

Japan's economy shrank at a record rate in the first three months of this year.

'Optimistic'

"Today's release supports our view that exports are past the worst," said Chiwoong Lee at Goldman Sachs.

A slump in exports, triggered by the global economic slowdown that hit demand for Japanese cars, electronics and other goods, led to an economic contraction of 4% between January and March this year.

But some economists are predicting a turnaround in the country's economic fortunes.

Government stimulus and a recovery in exports should ensure that the economy avoids contraction in the current quarter, said Masamichi Adachi at JP Morgan.

"In the short term, we are rather optimistic. But after that, there are many challenges facing the Japanese economy," he added.

Last week, Japan's central bank upgraded its economic outlook, saying the worst of the recession might be over.

Rupee surges 41 paise against dollar in opening trade

The Indian rupee on Wednesday soared by 41 paise against the dollar on anticipation of heavy foreign capital inflows as stock market may open higher in tandem with other Asian markets.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit was quoted at 47.51 a dollar in the opening trade, a rise of 41 paise over the previous close.

Rupee had nosedived by 64 paise to close at 47.92/93 on Tuesday, its biggest fall in almost three months.


Dealers said expectations of a surge in the domestic stock markets in line with other firming Asian markets leading to capital inflows strengthened the rupee sentiments.


However, month-end dollar demand from importers and refiners capped the rupee's gains to some extent, they added.


The Asian equity markets rose by up to 3.7 per cent in the morning trade on Wednesday.

Consumer confidence buoys market

US shares have risen after a survey suggested US consumer confidence was at its highest level since last September.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 54.9 for May from 40.8 last month - well beyond the average 42.3 predicted by economists.

The indicator is being closely watched as a guide to whether consumers are likely to start shopping again.

The Dow Jones added 2.4%, despite other data showing record house price falls in the first quarter of 2009.

The Conference Board index suggested consumer confidence had hit its highest level since last September.

That was when the collapse of Lehman Brothers accelerated the global financial crisis.

No recovery signs

House prices fell by 19.1% in the first three months of the year from the same time last year, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller National Home Price index suggested.

It also showed home prices had fallen 32.2% since peaking in the second quarter of 2006.

However, it suggested that the pace of month-on-month declines had slowed.

The housing index, which looks at 20 key cities, saw prices fall by 18.7% in March from the year before.

These declines were slightly better than February's falls, and it was the second straight month that indexes did not post record drops.

But there were still no signs that home prices had hit the bottom, said David M Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee.

"We see no evidence that a recovery in home prices has begun," he said.