China Data On Tap For Friday

(RTTNews) - China is scheduled to release a raft of data on Friday, headlining a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are December figures for inflation, imports, exports and trade balance.

Overall inflation is expected to add 0.2 percent on month and fall 0.4 percent on year after sinking 0.5 percent both on month and on year in November. Producer prices are expected to slide 2.6 percent on year after shedding 3.0 percent in the previous month.

Imports are expected to add 0.3 percent on year after sinking 0.3 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 1.7 percent after rising 0.5 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $76.20 billion, up from $68.39 billion a month earlier.

Japan will provide November numbers for current account and December data for bank lending. The current account is expected to show a surplus of 2.385 trillion yen, down from 2.583 trillion yen in October. Overall bank lending is expected to rise 2.7 percent on year, easing from 2.8 percent in November.

Australia will see November numbers for home loans, with forecasts calling for a flat monthly reading following the 5.6 percent spike in October.