CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Thursday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are January numbers for industrial production, retail sales, housing starts and construction orders.
Industrial production is tipped to fall 2.5 percent on month and rise 1.3 percent on year after sliding 0.1 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year in December. Housing starts are predicted to surge 10.3 percent on year after rising 2.1 percent in the previous month.
Retail sales are predicted to slide 0.9 percent on month and advance 1.5 percent on year after gaining 0.9 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year a month earlier. Sales from large retailers are tipped to decline 2.4 percent on year after shedding 1.0 percent in December.
China will see February results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite PMIs. In January, the manufacturing PMI had a score of 49.5, while the non-manufacturing PMI was at 54.7 and the composite came in at 53.2.
Australia will provide Q4 numbers for capital expenditure and January data for private sector credit. Capex is tipped to add 1.0 percent on quarter after easing 0.5 percent in Q3. Credit is expected to add 0.3 percent on month and 4.3 percent on year after rising 0.2 percent on month and 4.3 percent on year in December.
New Zealand will see February results for the business confidence survey and activity outlook from ANZ; in January, their scores were -24.1 and +13.6, respectively.
The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.75 percent.
South Korea also will see January numbers for industrial production and retail sales. In December, industrial production sank 1.4 percent on month and gained 1.6 percent on year, while retail sales added 0.8 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year.
Thailand will release January figures for imports, exports and trade balance, as well as Q4 current account data. In December, imports were worth $17.05 billion and exports were at $19.54 billion for a trade surplus of $2.48 billion. The current account surplus in Q3 was $4.21 billion.
Singapore will provide January figures for producer prices; in December, prices were down 5.3 percent on month and 0.4 percent on year.
Malaysia will see January numbers for producer prices; in December, prices were down 1.3 percent on month and 3.7 percent on year.
Finally, the markets in Taiwan are closed for the rest of the week in observance of Peace Memorial Day and will re-open on Monday.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2019 AFX News
