Japanese, Australian Stock Futures Advance on U.S. Retail Sales

Japanese and Australian stoc futures rose after a report showed U.S. retail sales unexpectedly advanced in April, buoying the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.

American Depositary Receipts of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) a Japanese carmaker that gets 75 percent of its revenue overseas, rose 1.1 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Nomura Holdings Inc. (8604), Japan’s biggest brokerage by market value, gained 1.3 percent after its shares surged yesterday to the highest level since 2008. ADRs of BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s biggest oil producer, fell 0.7 percent after crude slid for a third day.

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) expiring in June closed at 14,870 in Chicago yesterday compared with 14,820 in Osaka, Japan. They were bid in the pre-market at 14,850 in Osaka at 8:05 a.m. local time. The Nikkei has been the top-performing major equity gauge since mid-November, surging more than 70 percent amid unprecedented monetary easing from the Bank of Japan. Futures on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.3 percent today. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed.

The U.S. retail sales report “indicates that perhaps sequester spending cuts haven’t had a bigger impact on the underlying economy than expected and that’s a good thing,” said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which oversees about $150 billion. “BOJ quantitative easing is still going to have a big impact on Japanese markets, driving equities higher and potentially driving bond yields higher.”