Japan will on Thursday release preliminary March figures for industrial production, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.
Industrial output is expected to fall 2.3 percent on month and 3.4 percent on year after dipping 3.1 percent on month and 2.0 percent on year in February.
Japan also will see March figures for housing starts and construction orders. Housing starts are expected to fall 1.9 percent on year to 892,000 after dropping 3.1 percent to 905,000 in February. Construction orders were up 1.0 percent on year in February.
Also, the Bank of Japan will release its semi-annual outlook report.
Australia will release Q1 numbers for import and export prices, plus March figures for private sector credit. Export prices are expected to remain flat on quarter, while import prices are tipped to rise 1.0 percent – up from 0.9 percent in the previous three months. Private sector credit is expected to be unchanged, up 0.5 percent on month and 6.2 percent on year.
New Zealand will provide March figures for building permits; in February, permits tumbled 6.3 percent on month.
South Korea will release March data for industrial production, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.6 percent on month and 1.75 percent on year after gaining 2.6 percent on month and falling 4.7 percent on year in February.
Thailand will see March data for imports, exports, trade balance and current account. In February, imports were up 1.6 percent and exports were down 6.0 percent for a trade surplus of $2.568 billion. The current account surplus was $3.508 billion.
Singapore will see preliminary Q1 figures for unemployment, with analysts expecting the jobless rate to hold steady at 1.9 percent.
Malaysia will release March data for producer prices; in February, producer prices were up 0.4 percent on month and down 5.4 percent on year.
Taiwan will provide preliminary Q1 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 3.5 percent – up from 3.35 percent in the three months prior.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com