OVERNIGHT

UPDATE: Euro zone May flash composite PMI falls to 52.9 versus 53.0 in April (Reuters poll was for 53.2)

CNBC.com staff | @CNBC

Below are four quotes from stories on Reuters about Japan overnight. It should give you a decent idea about how a couple of the globe's largest economies are doing, China and Japan but also some emerging market ones.

The yen went up as Japanese stocks went down. The Nikkei was down 1.1% in early trading before recovering a bit as concern about a future tax hike might still be on the table after some investors believed otherwise given the weak economic numbers.The Shanghai Composite was up 0.52%; the Hang Send edged higher 0.34%; Singapore up 0.28%.

The Kospi was higher slightly, 0.3% and Australia's ASX 225 remained flat.Some tension cropped up between Japan and the U.S. over the weekend about whether the BOJ should be able to intervene in the currency market to stem the yen recent rise.

Asian shares rose on Monday after a solid session on Wall Street, while the dollar moved away from recent highs though remained supported as investors bet that the U.S. Federal Reserve was on track to raise rates sooner rather than later.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.6 percent, after U.S. shares rallied on Friday, shrugging off growing expectations of further tightening in monetary policy.

But Japan's Nikkei stock index .N225 extended losses, shedding 1.1 percent on worrying economic data and reports that Japan's sales tax increase would proceed as planned. Data released before the open showed Japan's exports tumbled 10.1 percent in April from a year earlier, in line with expectations but down for a seventh straight month, reflecting sluggish demand from China and emerging markets. Imports fell sharply, which in turn boosted the country's trade surplus above expectations. 

Japan's exports fell in April at the fastest pace in three months as a stronger yen and weakness in China and other emerging markets take their toll on the country's shipments, boding ill for growth prospects for the current quarter.Japanese manufacturing activity contracted at the fastest pace in more than three years in May as new orders slumped, a preliminary survey showed on Monday, putting fresh pressure on the government and central bank to offer additional economic stimulus.The Markit/Nikkei Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 47.6 in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, from a final 48.2 in April.