Japan Data Due On Friday

(RTTNews) - Japan is scheduled to release a batch of data on Friday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are January numbers for industrial production, retail sales, housing starts and construction orders, as well as February figures for Tokyo area consumer prices.

Industrial output is expected to climb 5.5 percent on month and easing 0.1 percent in December. Sales are seen higher by an annual 0.1 percent after slumping 0.9 percent in the previous month. Housing starts are tipped to fall 1.9 percent on year after losing 1.3 percent a month earlier. Construction orders rallied 20.2 percent on year in December. In January, overall Tokyo inflation was up 1.5 percent on year and core CPI rose 2.0 percent.

Australia will provide January data for private sector credit, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.7 percent on month - easing from 0.8 percent in December.

Thailand is scheduled to release January figures for industrial production, current account, imports, exports and trade balance. In December, industrial output was up 2.52 percent on year and the current account surplus was $3.10 billion. Imports jumped 18.0 percent on year and exports were up an annual 18.1 percent for a trade surplus of $2.70 billion.

Hong Kong will see January figures for imports, exports and trade balance. In December, imports were up 30.6 percent on month and exports climbed 26.1 percent for a trade deficit of HKD63.3 billion.

Finally, the markets in Taiwan are closed on Friday for Peace Memorial Day and will re-open on Monday.