Australia Unemployment Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Thursday release jobless figures for January, highlighting a modest day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 5.8 percent, with the addition of 10,000 jobs following the gain of 13,500 jobs in December. The participation rate is called unchanged at 64.7 percent.

New Zealand will see February results for the consumer confidence index from ANZ Bank; in January, the index climbed 3.4 percent to a score of 128.7.

Japan will release final January figures for machine tool orders; the previous reading suggested an increase of 3.5 percent on year.

Malaysia will provide Q4 numbers for gross domestic product and current account. In the three months prior, GDP was up 1.5 percent on quarter and 4.3 percent on year, while the current account surplus was 6.0 billion ringgit.

Indonesia will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, while the central bank will also announce its interest rate decision.

In December, imports were worth $12.78 billion and exports were at $13.77 billion for a trade surplus of $992 million. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 4.75 percent.