South Korea Industrial Production On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - South Korea will on Thursday release January figures for industrial production and retail sales, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Industrial production is expected to slip 0.4 percent on month and 8.9 percent on year after shedding 2.9 percent on month and 7.3 percent on year in December. Retail sales were up 1.4 percent on month in December.

Japan will see Q4 numbers for capital spending and February figures for monetary base and household confidence. Capex is expected to rise 6.9 percent on year, slowing from 9.8 percent in the previous three months. The monetary base is called lower by an annual 3.2 percent after sinking 3.8 percent in January. The household confidence index is tipped to see a score of 32.0, up from 31.0 a month earlier.

Hong Kong will provide January data for retail sales; in December, sales were up 1.1 percent on year.

Australia will release January figures for building approvals, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 9.0 percent on month after surging 18.5 percent in December.