Japan Leading Index On Tap For Friday

(RTTNews) - Japan is on Friday scheduled to release preliminary January readings for its leading and coincident indexes, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The leading index is expected to see a score of 105.8, up marginally from 105.6 in December. The coincident is tipped to rise to 112.2 from 110.7.

Australia will see February numbers for the Performance of Construction Index from AiG; in January, the index score was 45.9.

Malaysia will provide January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to add 1.5 percent on year, slowing from 4.2 percent in December. Exports are called higher by 2.5 percent, easing from 2.7 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of 7 billion ringgit, down from 9.2 billion a month earlier.