Japan Data On Tap For Friday

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

In December, industrial production was down 1.0 percent on month and 2.6 percent on year, while retail sales shed 0.8 percent on month and 0.3 percent on year. Housing starts were down an annual 9.0 percent and construction orders fell 1.3 percent on year. Overall Tokyo inflation was down 0.5 percent on year, while core CPI sank an annual 0.9 percent.

New Zealand will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In December, imports were worth NZ$5.33 billion and exports were at NZ$5.35 billion for a trade surplus of NZ$17 million.

Australia will see January data for private sector credit; in December, credit was up 0.3 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year.

Singapore will provide January numbers for bank lending, industrial production and producer prices. In December, bank lending was at SGD678.7 billion, while industrial production was up 2.4 percent on month and 14.3 percent on year and producer prices fell 6.9 percent on year.

Taiwan will release Q4 figures for current account; in the three months prior, the current account surplus was $28.65 billion.

Thailand will see January figures for unemployment; in December, the jobless rate was 1.5 percent.

Finally, the markets in Thailand are closed on Friday for Makha Bucha Day and will re-open on Monday.