Japanese Cabinet Office said the economy is in recession

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A preliminary report issued by the Japanese Cabinet Office revealedthat the coincident index dropped to 101.7 in June from 103.3 inMay. The reading came in line with economists' expectations.
The Cabinet Office said the economy is "deteriorating", indicatinga possibility that the economy is in recession. The coincidentindex is used to identify the current state of the economy and themagnitude of fall in the indicator shows the tempo of thecontraction phase.
The leading index that is used to predict changes in the directionof the economy fell to 91.2 in June from 92.9 reported in May. Theindicator stood slightly above the 91.1 expected by economists.
Earlier in the day, the Conference Board reported that its leadingindex for Japan posted a decline of 1.3% in June. The Board'scoincident index, which measures current conditions, fell by 0.9%for the month. With June's decrease, the leading index stood at80.8 and the coincident index is at 107.3.
The National Statistical Office said in a report that sales inSouth Korea's retail stores increased 6.8% year-on-year in June,slower than 10.1% rise seen in May. Retail sales accounted forKRW20.1 trillion, down from KRW21.5 trillion. Excluding vehiclefuels, retail sales increased 5% over the previous year versus 6.4%in May.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Korea revealed that the South Korean moneysupply grew at a slower pace of 12.7% in June from the previousyear. The growth eased from 14.2% reported in May.
The Manila-based National Statistics Office said in a preliminaryreport that the producer price index, or PPI, for the Philippinesmanufacturing industry grew 3.5% year-on-year in June, quicker thanrevised 2.3% increase recorded in May. On a monthly basis, the PPIclimbed 1.4% versus revised 1.8% growth in May.
In other news, India's Prime Minister's Economic Advisory CouncilChairman, Chakravarthy Rangarajan said the GDP growth mightmoderate to 7.5% to 8% in the current fiscal. He expects inflationto come down to about 8% by the end of the fiscal year.
The Indian government decided to continue the ban on export ofnon-basmati rice for another three months. The export ban onnon-basmati rice was imposed on March 31 this year to checkspiraling prices and rising inflation.