CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Thursday, including December figures for industrial production, labor cash earnings, vehicle production, housing starts and construction orders.
Industrial production is expected to rise 4.1 percent on month but fall 5.6 percent on year after shedding 1.4 percent on month and 5.5 percent on year in November. Labor cash earnings were down an annual 0.8 percent in the previous month, while vehicle production dipped 8.4 percent on year. Housing starts are expected to rise 13.5 percent on year after adding 10.3 percent a month earlier. Construction orders fell an annual 2.1 percent in November.
Australia will provide December numbers for private sector credit, as well as Q4 data for import and export prices. Private sector credit is expected to add 0.2 percent on month and 3.4 percent on year after being flat on month and adding 3.5 percent on year in November. Import prices are tipped to rise 0.4 percent on quarter after shedding 2.4 percent in Q3, while export prices are called lower by 1.5 percent after dropped 6.4 percent in the previous three months.
Singapore will release unemployment data for the fourth quarter of 2012; in Q3, the unemployment rate stood at 1.9 percent.
The Philippines will see GDP figures for the fourth quarter of 2012, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 6.0 percent on year. That's down from 7.1 percent in the third quarter, when GDP was also up 1.3 percent on quarter.
The central bank in Malaysia will conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold at 3.0 percent. Malaysia also will provide December figures for producer prices; in November, they were down 1.3 percent on month and 3.4 percent on year.
Thailand will release December numbers for imports, exports, trade balance and current account. In November, imports were worth $21.01 billion and exports were at $19.56 billion for a trade deficit of $1.45 billion. The current account surplus was $392 million.
Hong Kong will announce retail sales data for December; in November, sales were up 8.1 percent on year.
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