Japan Retail Sales Data Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - Japan will on Thursday release December numbers for retail sales, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Retail sales are tipped to add 0.3 percent on month and 0.9 percent on year after easing 0.2 percent on month and gaining 0.5 percent on year in November. Large retailer sales are tipped to add 0.5 percent on year after losing 1.1 percent in the previous month.

Australia will release Q4 numbers for import and export prices, and also see November results for the leading index from the Conference Board.

Import prices are tipped to add 1.4 percent on quarter after losing 0.8 percent in the third quarter. Export prices are called lower by 1.0 percent on quarter after shedding 3.9 percent in Q3. The CB index dipped 0.2 percent in October.

New Zealand will provide December data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to be worth NZ$4.13 billion, down from NZ$4.24 billion in November. Exports are called at NZ$4.21 billion, up from NZ$4.02 billion. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of NZ$75 million, up from the NZ$213 million deficit in the previous month.

The Philippines will release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.8 percent on quarter and 6.0 percent on year. That follows the 0.4 percent quarterly increase and the 5.3 percent yearly gain in the previous three months.