Singapore Trade Data On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - Singapore will on Thursday release March figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

In February, imports were worth SGD36.10 billion and exports were at SGD40.39 billion for a trade surplus of SGD4.29 billion.

Japan will see March numbers for consumer confidence and department store sales. The consumer confidence index is expected to show a score of 36.0, down from 38.3 in February. Department store sales were up 3.0 percent on year in February.

Australia will provide new motor vehicle sales data for March, and also see the Q1 score for the business confidence survey from NAB. Vehicle sales in February were up 0.1 percent on month and down 3.5 percent on year, while the NAB index saw a score of 8 in the fourth quarter of 2013.

New Zealand will release March numbers for job advertisements and April figures for consumer confidence from ANZ. Job ads were up 3.7 percent on month in February, while the consumer confidence index dipped 0.8 percent on month in March to a reading of 132.0.