China Data On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - China is scheduled to release a raft of data on Wednesday, headlining a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are Q4 figures for gross domestic product, as well as December numbers for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment.

GDP is expected to rise 1.0 percent on quarter and 5.3 percent on year after adding 1.3 percent on quarter and 4.9 percent on year in the previous three months.

Industrial production is called steady at 6.6 percent higher on year, while retail sales are tipped to ease to an annual 8.0 percent from 10.1 percent in November. FAI (2.9 percent) and unemployment (5.0 percent) also are seen unchanged.

Singapore will provide December data for non-oil domestic exports, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 1.5 percent on month and an increase of 3.3 percent on year. That follows the 0.3 percent monthly increase and the 1.0 percent annual gain in November.

The central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and the announce its decision on interest rates. The benchmark lending rate (6.00 percent), lending facility rate (6.75 percent) and the deposit facility rate (5.25 percent) all are seen unchanged.