The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 1.75 percent.
Japan will release April figures for consumer confidence and domestic corporate goods prices. The consumer confidence index is expected to show a score of 41.8, up slightly from 41.7 in March. Corporate goods prices are tipped to add 0.1 percent on month and fall 2.1 percent on year after gaining 0.3 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year in the previous month.
Indonesia will release April data for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to fall 18.7 percent on year after shedding 13.39 percent in March. Exports are called lower by 7.45 percent after losing 9.75 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $77 million, down from $1.132 billion a month earlier.
Malaysia will release Q1 figures for gross domestic product. GDP is expected to add 0.6 percent on quarter and 5.4 percent on year after gaining 2.0 percent on quarter and 5.8 percent on year in the three months prior.
Singapore will provide March numbers for retail sales; in February, sales were down 3.3 percent on month but higher by 15.8 percent on year.
Hong Kong will see Q1 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.2 percent on quarter and 2.1 percent on year. That follows the 0.4 percent quarterly increase and the 2.2 percent yearly gain in the three months prior.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com