CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - South Korea is on Wednesday scheduled to release January figures for imports, exports, trade balance and inflation, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic news. Imports are expected to rise 5.1 percent on year following the 13.6 percent increase in December. Exports are tipped to add 1.1 percent on year after collecting 10.8 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $0.56 billion, down from $3.405 billion a month earlier. The inflation rate is tipped to come in at 3.6 percent, easing from 4.2 percent in December. Australia will announce Q4 house price numbers, December new home sales figures and the AiG Performance of Manufacturing Index for January. House price numbers are expected to fall 0.6 percent on quarter and 3.3 percent on year after shedding 1.2 percent on quarter and 2.2 percent on year in the previous three months. Home sales climbed 6.8 percent on month in November, while the PMI showed a score of 50.2 in December. China will reveal the results of its Purchasing Managers' Index for manufacturing in January, with analysts expecting the index to show a score of 49.6, down from 50.3 in December. China also will announce numbers for January's HSBC Manufacturing PMI; in December, it had a score of 48.7. Indonesia will provide December numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, along with January's inflation rate. Imports are expected to jump 17.9 percent on year following the 18.4 percent annual expansion in November. Exports are called higher by 4.1 percent after adding 8.3 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $1.75 billion, up from $1.526 billion a month earlier. The inflation rate is expected to come in at 3.6 percent, easing from 3.79 percent in December. Thailand will release January figures for inflation, with the overall rate expected to come in at 3.35 percent - down from 3.53 percent in December. Core CPI is expected to show 2.7 percent, up from 2.66 percent in the previous month. Singapore will announce January PMI results for electronics and manufacturing. The electronics PMI is expected to show a score of 50.1, up from 49.7 in December. The manufacturing PMI is called at 49.4, down from 49.5 in the previous month. Japan will provide December data for labor cash earnings and January figures for vehicle sales. Labor cash earnings are expected to ease 0.4 percent on year after falling 1.0 percent in November. Vehicle sales jumped 23.5 percent on year in December. Finally, the Malaysian stock market is closed on Wednesday for Federal Territory Day. It will re-open on Thursday.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX