China Manufacturing PMI On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - China will on Wednesday see February results for its manufacturing and non-manufacturing PMIs, headlining a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

The manufacturing PMI is expected to show a score of 51.2, down from 51.3 in January. The non-manufacturing PMI is called at 55.0, down from 55.3 in the previous month. The composite is pegged at 54.4, down from 54.6 a month earlier.

Japan will release January figures for retail trade, industrial production, vehicle production, housing starts and construction orders.

Retail trade is expected to fall 0.6 percent on month and rise 2.5 percent on year after gaining 0.9 percent on month and 3.6 percent on year in December. Industrial production is expected to fall 4.2 percent on month and rise 5.2 percent on year after gaining 2.9 percent on month and 4.4 percent on year in the previous month.

Vehicle production was up 1.3 percent on year in December, while housing starts are called lower by an annual 4.7 percent after sliding 2.1 percent a month earlier. Construction orders sank 8.1 percent on year in December.

New Zealand will see February results for the activity outlook and business confidence index from ANZ; in January, their scores were +15.6 and -37.8, respectively.

Australia will provide January numbers for private sector credit, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.4 percent on month and 5.0 percent on year. That follows the 0.3 percent monthly increase and the 4.8 percent yearly gain in December.

Hong Kong will provide Q4 numbers for gross domestic product; in the three months prior, GDP was up 0.5 percent on quarter and 3.6 percent on year.

Thailand will release Q4 figures for current account and January trade data. In the third quarter, the current account surplus was $13.71 billion. In December, imports were worth $18.37 billion and exports were at $19.92 billion for a trade surplus of $1.54 billion.

Singapore will see January data for producer prices; in December, producer prices were up 0.8 percent on month and down 0.6 percent on year.

Malaysia will provide January numbers for producer and consumer prices. In December, producer prices were down 0.5 percent on month and up 0.3 percent on year, while consumer prices were up 0.1 percent on month and 3.5 percent on year.

Finally, the markets in Taiwan will be closed on Wednesday for Peace Memorial Day, and will re-open on Thursday.