Australia Rate Decision Due On 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 modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.10 percent.

Japan will release December data for unemployment. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 2.8 percent, while the jobs-to-applicant ratio is expected to tick up to 1.16 from 1.15 in November.

South Korea will provide January figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 32.8 percent on year, down from 37.4 percent in December. Exports are called higher by an annual 15.5 percent, slowing from 18/3 percent in the previous month. The trade deficit in December was $0.59 billion.

Australia will see December data for home loans and retail sales. In November, home loans were up 7.6 percent on month, while retail sales improved 7.3 percent on month.

Thailand will release November numbers for retail sales; in October, sales were up 8.3 percent on year.

Finally, most of the regional bourses are closed on Tuesday for the Lunar New Year, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Indonesia.