The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The central bank is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, from 1.50 percent to 1.75 percent.
Australia will release Q1 numbers for private capital expenditure, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.5 percent on quarter – up from 1.1 percent in the three months prior.
Singapore will see April data for industrial production, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 8.1 percent on month and 5.1 percent on year. That follows he 12.6 percent monthly contraction and the 3.4 percent yearly gain in March.
Hong Kong will release April numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In March, imports were down 6.0 percent on year and exports fell an annual 8.9 percent for a trade deficit of HKD37.3 billion.
Thailand will provide April figures for imports, exports, trade balance and industrial production. Imports are expected to jump 17.8 percent on year, easing from 18.0 percent in March. Exports are called higher by an annual 14.55 percent, down from 19.5 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is called flat following the $1.46 billion surplus a month earlier. Output is expected to rise 3.1 percent on year after contracting 0.1 percent in March.
Finally, the markets in Indonesia are closed on Thursday for Ascension Day and will re-open on Friday.
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