CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - China is scheduled to release a raft of data on Wednesday, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are Q1 figures for gross domestic product, as well as March numbers for industrial production, retail sales, unemployment and fixed asset investment.
GDP is expected to have added 1.4 percent on quarter and 6.3 percent on year, slowing from 1.5 percent on quarter and 6.4 percent on year in the three months prior.
Industrial production is predicted to gain 6.0 percent on year, up from 5.3 percent in February. Retail sales are expected to climb an annual 8.4 percent, up from 8.2 percent a month earlier. Fixed asset investment is tipped to rise 6.3 percent on year, up from 6.1 percent in the previous month. The jobless rate is called steady at 5.3 percent.
Japan will provide March data for imports, exports, trade balance and store sales, as well as final February figures for industrial production.
Imports are expected to rise 3.5 percent on year after sliding 6.7 percent in February. Exports are called lower by an annual 2.6 percent after sinking 1.2 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at 363.2 billion yen, up from 339.0 billion yen a month earlier.
In February, nationwide department store sales were up 0.4 percent on year, while Tokyo area store sales fell an annual 0.5 percent and condominium sales sank 6.7 percent. The previous reading for industrial production called for a gain of 1.4 percent on month and a decline of 1.0 percent on year.
New Zealand will release Q1 numbers for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on quarter and 1.7 percent on year. That follows the 0.1 percent quarterly increase and the 1.9 percent yearly gain in the three months prior.
Australia will see March results for the leading index from Westpac; in February, the index was flat on month.
Singapore will release March numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In February, imports were worth SGD36.12 billion and exports were at SGD39.87 billion for a trade surplus of SGD3.75 billion.
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