CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Friday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are April numbers for consumer prices, household spending, unemployment, industrial production, vehicle production, construction orders and housing starts.
Inflation is expected to jump to 3.4 percent from 1.6 percent in March, while core CPI is called at 3.1 percent from 1.3 percent in the previous month. Household spending is tipped to fall 3.4 percent on year after climbing 7.2 percent a month earlier.
Industrial output is expected to fall 2.0 percent on month and rise 4.5 percent on year after adding 0.7 percent on month and 7.4 percent on year in March. The unemployment rate is called steady at 3.6 percent.
Housing starts are called lower by 8.3 percent on year after dipping 2.9 percent in the previous month. Vehicle production surged an annual 14.0 percent in March, while construction orders tumbled 8.8 percent.
Australia will release April numbers for private sector credit, with analysts looking for an increase of 0.4 percent on month and 4.5 percent on year. That follows the 0.4 percent monthly gain and the 4.4 percent yearly increase in March.
New Zealand will see April numbers for building permits, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 3.5 percent on month following the 8.3 percent jump in March.
Thailand will provide April figures for imports, exports and trade balance, plus Q1 data for current account. In March, imports were worth $16.29 billion and exports were at $19.77 billion for a trade surplus of $3.48 billion. In Q4, the current account surplus was $5.20 billion.
Malaysia will see April numbers for producer prices; in March, PPI was up 0.2 percent on month and 3.6 percent on year.
South Korea will release April data for industrial production, with analysts expecting a flat reading on month and an increase of 2.3 percent on year. That follows the 0.9 percent monthly increase and the 2.7 percent gain in March.
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