Japanese industrial output comes up short but PMI improves.

Japanese industrial production rose a minuscule 0.2% in March, missing analysts' expectations of a 0.4% gain and underscoring the risk of a global economic slowdown foretold by weaker than expected GDP reports out of the U.S. and China. However, the country's manufacturing PMI rose to 51.1 in April from 50.4 in March, led by strong performance from investment goods producers as solid net gains in output and new orders were recorded. Yen depreciation helped in new export sales but also led to the sharpest rise of input costs in 19 months.