Renault has faced no such meddling: Nissan's big shareholders, such as Yamaichi Securities, Industrial Bank of Japan and Fuji Bank, were either bust or in too much of a mess to interfere.

ECONOMIST: Daimler and Mitsubishi Motor

Before the Internet, securities analysis and industrial research at current detailed levels would have been unthinkable.

FORBES: Why Money Managers Should Be Like Astronauts

"It suggests that we've seen the fastest growth in over a decade in industrial production, " said Richard Jerram at ING Securities.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Japan economy 'getting stronger'

"The trade data (shows) that external demand still remains weak, which is widely-known to the market, so I think investors will pay more attention to indicators that reflect companies' business operations, profitability and revenue growth, such as industrial production and power consumption, before they make up their mind, " said Dongxing Securities analyst Sun Zheng.

WSJ: Nikkei Outperforms, Shanghai Treads Water

The concerns that industrial use of silver and the platinum group metals caused speculators to exit positions in those markets, TD Securities said.

FORBES: FOCUS: Falling Prices Push Speculators To Cut Bullish Metals Positions -CFTC