Asian shares
slipped on Monday and the dollar stayed near a four-month low against a
basket of major currencies after soft data raised doubts over whether
the U.S. economy has been growing despite U.S. share prices standing at
historic highs.
MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS fell
0.6 percent, although Japan's Nikkei share average .N225 edged up just 0.4 percent thanks to some companies' move to boost shareholder returns.
Spreadbetters expect European shares to post small gains, with Britain's FTSE .FTSE and France's CAC40 .FCHI seen rising 0.2 percent, though a lot depends on whether bond markets there will stabilize and also on any developments on cash-strapped Greece.
U.S. industrial production
unexpectedly fell for a fifth straight month in April while consumer
confidence dropped to a seven-month low in early May, data showed on
Friday, pushing down the dollar and U.S. bond yields.
Questions have arisen over whether the economy grew at all in the last quarter.
Coming on the heels of weak retail sales and producer inflation data, the reports stoked concerns that the U.S. economy is hardly gaining momentum after disappointing 0.2 percent annualized growth in January-March.
"U.S. GDP will likely be revised down in the next update to show a contraction. We estimate the U.S. economy shrank 0.9 percent," said Shuji Shirota, head of macro economics strategy group at HSBC in Tokyo.
While many investors stick to the view that the U.S. economy will accelerate later this year, signs of weakness are a source of concerns given many investors counted on U.S. growth to lead the global economy as China slows down and many other major economies are in the doldrums.
"Share prices in Europe, China, and Japan have risen already so far this year, so the market needs confirmation that the economy and corporate earnings will be improving," said Yoshinori Shigemi, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
Spreadbetters expect European shares to post small gains, with Britain's FTSE .FTSE and France's CAC40 .FCHI seen rising 0.2 percent, though a lot depends on whether bond markets there will stabilize and also on any developments on cash-strapped Greece.
Questions have arisen over whether the economy grew at all in the last quarter.
Coming on the heels of weak retail sales and producer inflation data, the reports stoked concerns that the U.S. economy is hardly gaining momentum after disappointing 0.2 percent annualized growth in January-March.
"U.S. GDP will likely be revised down in the next update to show a contraction. We estimate the U.S. economy shrank 0.9 percent," said Shuji Shirota, head of macro economics strategy group at HSBC in Tokyo.
While many investors stick to the view that the U.S. economy will accelerate later this year, signs of weakness are a source of concerns given many investors counted on U.S. growth to lead the global economy as China slows down and many other major economies are in the doldrums.
"Share prices in Europe, China, and Japan have risen already so far this year, so the market needs confirmation that the economy and corporate earnings will be improving," said Yoshinori Shigemi, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management.
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