New Zealand Interest Rate Decision On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBNZ is widely expected to keep its Official Cash Rate steady at 5.50 percent.

Australia will release Q4 numbers for construction work done, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.6 percent on quarter - slowing from 1.3 percent in the three months prior.

Japan will see January results for its leading and coincident indexes; in December, they were down 1.3 percent on month and up 1.6 percent, respectively.

Hong Kong will provide Q4 data for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.5 percent on quarter and 4.3 percent on year. That's up from 0.1 percent on quarter and 4.1 percent on year in the third quarter.

Thailand will release January figures for industrial production, with forecasts calling for a decline of 5.4 percent on year following the 6.27 percent slide in the previous month.

Finally, the markets in Taiwan are closed on Wednesday for Peace Memorial Day and will reopen on Thursday.