Australia Building Approval Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday see preliminary April figures for building approvals, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In March, approvals were up 1.9 percent on month and down 2.5 percent on year.

Australia also will release Q1 data for capital expenditures; in the previous three months, building capex was up 1.5 percent on quarter and machinery capex eased 0.1 percent.

New Zealand will provide April numbers for building consents; in March, consents were down 0.2 percent on month.

Taiwan will see Q1 figures for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 6.51 percent on year - accelerating from 4.93 percent in the three months prior.

Thailand is scheduled to release April data for imports, exports and trade balance. In March, imports rose 5.6 percent and exports slumped 10.9 percent for a trade deficit of $1.160 billion.