Australia Interest Rate Decision On Tap For Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at the record low 0.75 percent.

Japan will release January figures for monetary base; in December, the base was up 2.3 percent on year.

New Zealand will provide December data for building permits; in November, permits tumbled 8.5 percent on month.

Malaysia will release December figures for imports, exports and trade balance. In November, imports were worth 74.26 billion ringgit and exports were at 80.80 billion ringgit for a trade surplus of 6.54 billion ringgit.

Hong Kong will provide December numbers for retail sales; in November, retail sales plummeted 25.4 percent on year.

South Korea will see January figures for consumer prices. In December, overall inflation was up 0.2 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year, while core CPI eased 0.1 percent on month and gained 0.7 percent on year.

Thailand will release January numbers for consumer and producer prices. In December, overall inflation was up 0.01 percent on month and 0.9 percent on year, while core CPI gained 0.03 percent on month and 0.5 percent on year. Producer prices rose 0.3 percent on month and fell 0.3 percent on year.