Japan Data Due On Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Japan is scheduled to release a batch of data on Wednesday, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are December figures for industrial production, retail sales and housing starts, as well as January results for the household confidence index.

Industrial production is expected to add 2.4 percent on month after slipping 0.9 percent in November. Retail sales are seen higher by 4.7 percent on year, slowing from 5.3 percent in the previous month.

Construction orders surged 33.6 percent on year in November, while housing starts are expected to sink an annual 6.2 percent after dropping 8.5 percent a month earlier. The household confidence index is tipped to show a score of 37.6, up from 37.2 in December.

South Korea will provide December data for industrial production and retail sales. Industrial production is tipped to add 0.5 percent on month and 6.0 percent on year after gaining 3.3 percent on month and 5.3 percent on year in November. Retail sales are expected to rise 0.5 percent on month after adding 1.0 percent in November.

Australia will see Q4 results for consumer prices and December numbers for household credit. Inflation is expected to gain 0.8 percent on quarter and 4.3 percent on year after advancing 1.2 percent on quarter and 5.4 percent on year in the previous three months. Private sector credit is expected to add 0.4 percent on month after rising 0.4 percent in November.

China will see January results for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing and composite indexes; in December, their scores were 49.0, 50.4 and 50.3, respectively.

Singapore will release Q4 data for unemployment; in the three months prior, the jobless rate was 2.0 percent.

Thailand will provide December data for imports, exports, trade balance, current account and industrial production. In November, imports were up 9.5 percent on year and exports rose 3.9 percent for a trade deficit of $0.20 billion. The current account deficit was $1.20 billion in November, while industrial production sank 4.71 percent.

Taiwan will release preliminary Q4 figures for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 4.5 percent on year, accelerating from 2.32 percent in the previous three months.

Hong Kong will see preliminary Q4 data for gross domestic product; in the third quarter, GDP was up 0.1 percent on quarter and 4.1 percent on year.