2013.06.1001:37:18UTC+00Asian stocks surge; Nikkei average bounce back

Japanese stocks made a strong recovery on Monday following recent declines, while other markets were slightly higher as investors digested a set of poor economic data from China.

Japan displayed an above expectation current-account surplus of ¥750 billion ($735 billion) for April, compared with expectations for a ¥310 billion surplus. Separately, Japan revised its growth data for the January-to-March period to 4.1% in annualized terms, higher than the 3.5% growth initially reported.

Stocks in Tokyo bounced back after falling for the past three sessions, with the Nikkei Stock Average bolster 3% , due to a weaker yen, supporting the index move away from bear-market territory. The index is now down 16.9% from the peak that it reached on May 23.

Large index constituent Softbank Corp. surged 6.9% higher, while shares in exporters were pushed higher by the weaker yen: Toyota Motor Corp. produced 7.1% more, and Bridgestone Corp. zoomed 5.9%.

The much-watched U.S. labor report came out slightly better than expected on Friday. Nonfarm payrolls data showed the world’s largest economy added 175,000 jobs in May — a result that was good enough to prompt a strong session for stocks on Wall Street, but not so high as to trigger concerns that the Federal Reserve could start to pull back its bond-buying program.

Indications of economic strength in the U.S. economy initially gave the dollar a push versus the yen, which was recently steady at ¥98.00 in Asian trade. The greenback decline 2.9% versus the yen last week, its worst week versus the Japanese currency since February 2010.

Elsewhere in the region, the positive employment news from the U.S. was offset by a string of uninspiring Chinese economic data released over the weekend.

A 1.0% increase in exports for May, combined with a 0.3% decline in imports, painted a poor picture for trade. Industrial production grew slightly slower in May compared to April, while consumer prices rose by 2.1%, undershooting expectations.

Australia’s stock market was closed for a public holiday on Monday, but the poor economic data from China weighed the country’s currency. The Australian dollar dive down to 94.26 U.S. cents from 94.98 U.S. cents late Friday in New York.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index was up 0.5%, while markets in mainland China were closed for a public holiday.

The Philippines PSE Composite gained 2.0%, recovering from recent declines. Del Monte Pacific dropped 9.4% on its debut trading after the company listed 1.3 billion shares in Manila. The company is already listed in Singapore. South Korea’s Kospi Composite was up 0.3%.