Equities Head Higher, Samsung's Strong Earnings, Busy Data Day

Asian markets are higher today, Japan has returned from a break on Monday with indices up over 1%, Yen holds onto most of Monday’s gains, while earlier we have Japan Jobs and Retail sales data. Elsewhere South Korean equities are higher, driven largely by strong earnings from Samsung Electronics, while earlier Industrial Production missed estimates by quiet some margin. Looking ahead in the region today, Australian Retail Sales and China's PMI data due out shortly.

• Japanese equities are higher today, playing a bit of catch up after being closed on Monday, focus has been largely on the Yen after yesterday briefly trading above 160, before what looks like MoF intervention saw the currency rally 3% at one stage to now trade at 156.60, although it should be noted we are now trading back at levels from Friday. Earlier this morning we had Jobless rate coming in at 2.6% vs 2.5% for March, but in line with Feb, and Job-To-Applicant Ratio of 1.28 vs 1.26, while Retail Sales showed a dropped from Feb 4.6% to 1.2% vs 2.4% est and finally Industrial Production picked up in March coming in at 3.8% vs 3.3% est. The Topix is up 1.40% and has broken back above the 20-day EMA, while the Nikkei 225 is up 1.13% and is testing both the 20 & 20-day EMAs.
• South Korean equities are higher today, led by strong earnings results from Samsung Electronics after reporting a more than tenfold surge in its first-quarter operating profit compared to the previous year which marked the first time in five quarters that its chip business turned profitable. Earlier this morning, Industrial Production was 0.7% vs 4.6% y/y est, falling from 4.6% in Feb. The Kospi is 0.85% higher, now up 6.14% from recent lows and trading back above all major moving averages while the 14-day RSI have ticked back above 50.
• Taiwan equities are slightly slower in early morning trading, later we have GDP data due out with consensus at 6% up from 4.93% last quarter. The Taiex is down 0.20%, although has been one of the top performers in the region since the Israel/Iran conflict up 6.25% with technical indicators showing buyers are well and truly in control.
• Australian equities are also higher today, although underperforming the wider markets moves as we await Retail Sales & Private Sector Credit. The ASX200 is up 0.20% after recently bouncing off the 100-day EMA and now trade just below both the 20 & 50-day EMAs at about 7685.
• Elsewhere in SEA, New Zealand Equities are down 0.1%, earlier 1Q Job ads fell 5.4% q/q and ANZ Business Confidence dropped to 14.9 from 22.9 in March. Singapore equities are little change ahead of Unemployment data later, while Malaysian equities are also little changed.