Australia Rate Decision On Tap For Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.75 percent.

Australia also will see January figures for building approvals and Q4 data for current account. Building approvals are tipped to add 1.0 percent on month and 1.9 percent on year after easing 0.2 percent on month and climbing 2.7 percent on year in December.

The current account is expected to show a surplus of A$2.3 billion following the A$7.9 billion surplus in the three months prior.

Japan will see February figures for its monetary base and for its consumer confidence index. In January, the monetary base was up 2.9 percent on year, while the consumer confidence index saw a score of 39.1.

The central bank in Malaysia will conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The bank is widely expected to leave its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.75 percent.

South Korea will release final Q4 numbers for gross domestic product and February figures for consumer prices.

The previous reading for GDP was flat on quarter and up 2.2 percent on year. Overall inflation was up 0.6 percent on month and 1.5 percent on year, while core CPI added 0.4 percent on month and 0.9 percent on year.