Malaysia Rate Decision On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The central bank in Malaysia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday 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 3.25 percent.

Hong Kong will release December figures for consumer prices; in November, inflation was up 2.4 percent on year.

Japan will provide November numbers for its all industry activity index, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.8 percent on month following the 1.0 percent increase in October.

New Zealand will see January figures for the consumer confidence index from ANZ; in December, the index slid 3.3 percent to a score of 118.7.