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MORNING BID ASIA-Yen traders eye BOJ minutes, China eyes rebound

A take a look at the day ahead in Asian markets.

The last trading week of the very first half of the year gets underway on Monday, with Asia's scorecard looking fairly positive from an equity viewpoint, blended through a currency and bond lens, and more bleak from a Chinese market angle.

Chinese stocks will be wanting to stop the rot and halt the current decline that has extended their underperformance against local and global peers this year.

Financiers in Japanese assets, meanwhile, are on high FX intervention alert after the yen fell on Friday for a seventh straight day towards 160.00 per dollar, the level that triggered the first of Tokyo's yen-buying ventures into the marketplace nearly 2 months back.

With the Bank of Japan's next policy conference not till July 30-31, it might need verbal or direct intervention once again to halt the yen's slide. The BOJ's summary of opinions from its June 13-14 policy conference, to be launched on Monday, will be carefully enjoyed.

The local calendar on Monday also includes the latest trade figures from New Zealand, inflation from Singapore, and joblessness and commercial production from Taiwan.

Asian stocks enter into the last week of June in decent shape, supported by suppressed volatility and falling inflation internationally, lower U.S. bond yields, and resilient equities worldwide.

With completion of the first half in sight, nevertheless, some investors will wish to lock in earnings and square positions. The slide in Nvidia shares recently - their first weekly decline in nine - could be an indication of how today will play out.

Japanese stocks are up around 15% year to date, and the MSCI Asia ex-Japan, India's Sensex and South Korea's Kospi are all up around 7%.

The outlier is China.

The Shanghai Composite is barely in positive territory for the year, has actually lost 5% in the last month, and is on its worst weekly losing streak in 6 years.

The news flow isn't especially motivating - trade stress between China and the West are increasing every day it seems, and on Friday, Washington issued draft guidelines for prohibiting or needing notification of specific investments in artificial intelligence and other innovation sectors in China.

Capital flows aren't particularly supportive either. Foreign direct financial investment into China in the January-May duration fell 28%. to $49.7 billion from the exact same duration last year, and some $4.5. billion has left the mainland this month through the Northbound leg. of the Stock Connect Scheme, snapping 4 months of internet. inflows.

However Barclays analysts state the selloff is exaggerated, and the. bar is low for market-friendly favorable surprises from next. month's 'plenum' - an essential conference of the Communist Party's. central committee. They suggest placing for a rebound.

Here are essential developments that might supply more direction. to markets on Monday:

- BOJ summary of viewpoints from June meeting

- Singapore inflation (May)

- Taiwan industrial production (May)

(source: Reuters)