REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Participants run at the Bund near Huangpu River as they compete in the Shanghai International Marathon December 1, 2013. Seen in the background is the Oriental Pearl TV Tower at the financial district of Pudong.
There was a decent amount of news and data out of Asia this weekend.
Morgan Stanley's Hans Redeker wraps it up in one concise paragraph:
Asian data mix. Stronger-than-expected Chinese PMI data (51.4) have supported Oceanic currencies, but the market ignored weak Korean trade data. The Korean trade surplus consisted of contracting imports (-0.6%Y) and a very split export performance (0.2%Y). While exports to the US and Western Europe continued to do well, there were weak regional exports, especially to China, warning that AXJ is economically on a weak footing. China's equity market has come under severe selling pressure, with the Shenzhen index losing almost 5% today as the government suggested promoting fund- raising activities in the equity market through a variety of channels. Hence, the equity market declined due to supply and not due to growth fears. However, the weak Korean exports to China suggest that the risk for upcoming Chinese data releases is on the downside.
Wall Street economists call South Korean exports the "canary in the coalmine" as it is one of the more reliable indicators of global economic activity.