This is significantly higher than the 0.6% forecasts and once again shows how strongly the Asian economies are performing.

Another stat shows that the factory operation rate is running at almost 85%, the highest on record.

This is better than the expected 10% and again shows how well Asian economies are performing.

The Thai Baht for example is trading at 2 1/2 year highs against the USD and the selling of the USD in Asia is gathering momentum. China’s willingness to diversify out of USD-based assets and buy Asian is a big factor.

USD/JPY rallies are getting smaller and another test of 84.75 would seems to be getting closer.

Here’s an interesting piece from Bloomberg which shows how the financial world is changing. China is looking to diversify away from the US and Europe (ex-Germany) and will increase its focus on Asian markets. These markets are still too small to deal with the weight of Chinese money but this is the growth area of world economies and the region’s capital and financial markets will also grow quickly.

The Nikkei and Kospi are both 1.25% higher and Sydney is +0.9%. HK is expected to open almost 1% higher also. Gold is holding on to its Friday gains, currently trading at $1184/oz and oil is trading around $79/bbl.

The latest monthly CPI figures for South Korea show that inflation is steady at 2.6%, as it has been for the last 3 months. This is more welcome stable economic data from another of Asia’s strong emerging economies.

They are trying their best to slow the rise in the Won. Do not be surprised if they show up on the bid in EUR/USD or cable, or on the offer in USD/JPY. They often switch pretty quickly out of their excess USD positions as they seek to keep their reserves pretty much in balance.

This is an 11-month high and up from $3.35 billion in May. Another sign of the continued strength in regional Asian economies.

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