A contraction in Japan’s first-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) set a gloomy tone for Asian stock markets on Wednesday morning.Japan’s March-quarter GDP fell 0.2% from the December quarter. The last time Japan reported a quarterly contraction in economic growth was in the fourth quarter of 2015.Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was down 0.22% ahead of the JSE’s opening.Naspers’s 31%-owned Hong Kong-listed associate, Tencent, which is scheduled to release quarter results on Wednesday, was down 0.45% at H$396.20.The rand was trading at R12.56 to the dollar, R14.86 to the euro and R16.97 to the pound at 6.45am.Taxi financier Transaction Capital said in a trading statement on May 10 that it expected to report on Wednesday basic and headline earnings per share grew by between 26% and 30%.Statistics SA is scheduled to release March’s retail sales figures at 1pm.March’s retail sales are likely to have been boosted by consumers shopping ahead of April’s value-added tax (VAT) increase, to 15% fro...
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