CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Friday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are October figures for industrial production, household spending, unemployment, inflation, housing starts, construction orders and vehicle production - as well as the November reading for the Nomura manufacturing PMI.
Industrial production is expected to contract 2.0 percent on month and 8.0 percent on year after shedding 4.1 percent on month and 8.1 percent on year in September. Household spending is expected to ease 0.8 percent on year after falling 0.9 percent in the previous month.
The unemployment rate is tipped to hold steady at 4.2 percent, while overall nationwide CPI is expected to ease 0.4 percent after falling 0.3 percent a month earlier. Housing starts are called higher by an annual 10.1 percent after jumping 15.5 percent in September. Construction orders were up 3.6 percent on year in the previous month while vehicle production dropped 12.4 percent. The Nomura index saw a score of 46.9 in October.
Australia will provide October numbers for private sector credit, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 4.1 percent on year. That follows the 0.3 percent monthly gain and the 4.0 percent annual increase in September.
South Korea will release October data for industrial production, with analysts expecting an increase of 1.1 percent on month and 1.0 percent on year after adding 0.8 percent on month and 0.7 percent on year in September.
Thailand will announce October numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In September, imports were at $17.50 billion and exports were at $20.48 billion, resulting in a surplus of $2.98 billion.
Malaysia will provide October figures for producer prices; in September, PPI was down 1.2 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year.
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