The data hit in the middle of the blow up from Trump, imposing more tariffs on Mexico and heightening trade war rifts.
OK, back to the topic at hand, the data from Japan was an improvement:
Industrial Production m/m for April (preliminary reading), 0.6%
- expected 0.2%, prior was -0.6%
Industrial Production y/y for April (preliminary), -1.1%
- expected -1.5%, prior was -4.3%
Recap via Reuters:
- The rise was also mainly because Japanese companies front-loaded production before a 10-day public holiday from late April to early May
- Excluding this factor, analysts caution that it is too early to turn optimistic on Japan's factory output
- Output was pushed up by an increase in production of cars, airplane parts, and machines used to make flat panel display
- in a more worrying sign, inventories of semiconductors and electronic parts rose at the fastest pace in seven months
