Another Day, Another Fresh High For Japan Stocks

Regional equities haven't been a focus point today, with the dollar and yield backdrop taking center stage. Recent themes have persisted though, with Japan equities pushing higher again, while HK and China are also higher. Trends are mixed elsewhere, while US equity futures are close to flat, Eminis last near 4419.

• The Nikkei 225 has again made a fresh high, up a further ~0.6% at this stage (albeit down from session highs). The electrics sector is higher, while brokerages are higher amid reports of higher retail product sales (per reports from Nomura). USD/JPY is also at fresh highs for the year, through 141.00, likely aiding the export segment. Offshore inflows into Japan stocks continued for the 11th straight week.
• China onshore media continues to push the case for policy stimulus, with a front page article on today's Economic Daily (see this link for more details). May activity data was weaker than expected, while the 1yr MFL was cut 10bps as widely forecast. At the break, the CSI 300 is +0.54%, near 3885 in index terms. The HSI is +0.83% at the break.
• The Kospi continues to struggle, with the index down a further 0.50% today, despite better tech leads from Wednesday US trade.
• In SEA trends are mixed, most bourses are down but losses are under 0.50% At this stage, except for the Philippines.