Market reaction was muted. The benchmark Nikkei equity index was down 0.2 percent in early trade; the data were released just prior to market open. The dollar-yen pair initially spiked as high as 101.41, from around 101.19 just prior to the release. At 8:43 a.m. HK/SIN, the pair was at 101.31.
Private consumption, which makes up around 60 percent of GDP, edged up 0.2 percent on-quarter, slowing from the previous quarter’s 0.6 percent growth. Meanwhile, domestic demand’s contribution to GDP was 0.3 percentage point.
“Japan’s economy is likely to achieve a recovery driven by private demand though the government must be mindful of risks such as slowing emerging market growth and uncertainty over the fate of Britain’s exit from the European Union,” Reuters quoted the country’s economy minister Nobuteru Ishihara as saying.
Some temporary factors, such as the fall in tourism following two deadly earthquakes in April, were behind the weakness in private consumption, Ishihara added.
Economists weren’t fazed by Monday’s poor result.
“There’s been quite a lot of strength in the yen, economic uncertainty and a bounce in oil prices, so its not surprising that [Japan] is barely growing. That’s been the average growth rate for the past five years,” Mark Jolley, equity strategist at CCB International Securities, told CNBC’s Squawk Box.
The local currency is around 16 percent higher against the greenback year-to-date, according to Reuters data.
Jolley attributed the market’s high expectations for GDP growth to Japanese data generally exceeding expectations over the past three months.
“As long as Japan is growing between zero and one percent, that’s a fabulous result. From the equity market’s point of view, as long as you have broad stability in the economy, that will keep people reasonably comfortable with Japanese equities, so this [Monday's GDP data] is as good as you can expect,” he said.
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