Over the past couple of trading days Indonesian stocks and the rupiah have been under pressure due to increasing speculation about a sooner-than-expected Fed Funds Rate hike in the USA. These pressures have caused some volatile behavior in the performance of emerging market stocks and currencies. Today, however, most Asian stocks moved higher with the notable exception of Japanese shares that were plagued by the release of weak April trade data. Meanwhile, the G-7 meeting last weekend failed to result in an agreement on a plan to revive global growth.

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In recent years, the Japanese economy has experienced significant hardships, generated largely by the aftermath of the hurricane and tsunami that hit the country in 2011. But newly adapted stimulus programs (the much-discussed programs of Abenomics) have boosted economic growth rates since that period. As a result, annual GDP is expected to rise to 1.8% for 2014, and these improvements are expected to have a supportive on the performances seen in surrounding economies in the Asia-Pacific region.

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