Australia Data On Tap For Monday

(RTTNews) - Australia is scheduled to release a batch of data on Monday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are December results for the manufacturing index from the Australian Industry Group, December figures for home loans and January's inflation forecast from TD Securities and the Melbourne Institute.

In November, the manufacturing index score was 52.1, while home loans gained 5.5 percent on month and investment lending rose an annual 6.0 percent. The inflation forecast in December suggested an increase of 0.5 percent on month.

South Korea will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are tipped to rise 1.9 percent on year after gaining 1.8 percent in December. Exports are called higher by an annual 9.8 percent, slowing from 12.6 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus in December was $6.94 billion.

Indonesia will release January data for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.36 percent on month and 1.66 percent on year for overall inflation - down from 0.45 percent on month and 1.68 percent on year in December. Core CPI is tipped to rise 1.53 percent on year, slowing from 1.60 percent in the previous month.

Thailand will see November numbers for retail sales and January results for its business confidence index. In October, retail sales were down 6.8 percent on year, while the business confidence index score in December was 46.8.

Many of the regional areas will see January results for their respective manufacturing PMIs from Markit Economics, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan (Jibun), Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and China (Caixin).

Finally, the markets in Malaysia are closed on Monday in observance of Federal Territory Day and will reopen on Tuesday.