China Data On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - China is scheduled to release a batch of data on Thursday, headlining a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are Q2 figures for gross domestic product and June numbers for industrial production, retail sales, fixed asset investment and unemployment.

GDP is predicted to expand 1.2 percent on quarter and 8.1 percent on year after rising 0.6 percent on quarter and 18.3 percent on year in the three months prior.

Industrial production is tipped to gain 7.8 percent on year, slowing from 8.8 percent in May. Retail sales are expected to jump an annual 11.0 percent, down from 12.4 percent in the previous month. FAI is expected to gain 12.1 percent on year after rising 15.4 percent a month earlier. The jobless rate in May was 5.0 percent.

Australia will see June figures for unemployment, with forecasts suggesting a jobless rate of 5.0 percent and the addition of 30,000 jobs. In May, the unemployment rate was 5.1 percent with the addition of 115,200 jobs. The participation rate is pegged at 66.3 percent, up from 66.2 percent in May.

The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates; the central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate steady at 0.50 percent.

Indonesia will release June figures for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to surge 51.35 percent, down from 68.68 percent in May. Exports care called higher by 49.9 percent on year, slowing from 58.76 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a surplus of $2.23 billion, down from $2.37 billion a month earlier.

Japan will see May figures for its tertiary industry index; in April, the index was down 0.7 percent on month.