CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Australia will on Thursday release January figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.
The trade balance is tipped to show a deficit of A$3.20 billion following the A$3.535 billion shortfall in December. Imports were worth A$28.78 billion in the previous month, while exports were at A$25.25 billion.
Australia also will see February results for the Performance of Service Index from AiG; in January, the index score was 48.4.
China will see February data for the services and composite indexes from Caixin; in January, their scores were 52.4 and 50.1, respectively.
Japan will see February results for the services and composite indexes from Nikkei; in January, their scores were 52.4 and 52.6, respectively.
South Korea will release February numbers for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.2 percent on month and 1.0 percent on year. That follows the flat monthly reading and the 0.8 percent yearly gain in January. Core CPI was up 0.2 percent on month and 1.7 percent in the previous month.
Hong Kong will provide January figures for retail sales. By value, sales are expected to fall 8.5 percent - steady from the previous month. By volume, sales are tipped to slip 4.1 percent after losing 6.1 percent in December.
Hong Kong and Singapore will see February results for the manufacturing PMI from Nikkei; in January, their scores were 46.1 and 52.5, respectively.
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