Japan Trade Data Due On Thursday

Japan is scheduled to release April numbers for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Imports are expected to slide 12.9 percent on year after falling 5.0 percent in March. Exports are tipped to tumble an annual 22.7 percent after sinking 11.7 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a deficit of 560 billion yen following the 4.9 billion yen deficit a month earlier.

Japan also will see preliminary May results for the manufacturing, services and composite purchasing managers index from Jibun Bank; in April, their scores were 41.9, 21.5 and 25.8, respectively.

Hong Kong will see April figures for consumer prices, with forecasts suggesting an annual increase of 1.8 percent - slowing from 2.3 percent in March.

The central bank in the Philippines will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 2.75 percent.

Finally, the [markets][1] in Indonesia are closed on Thursday for the Ascension and then will remain closed until May 28 for Eid-ul-Fitr.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

[Economic News][2]

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click[here][3] to check out our [Econ Scorecard][3] and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in [GDP][4], [unemployment rate][5], [inflation][6] and much more.

  1. www.rttnews.com/Content/Markets.aspx
  2. www.rttnews.com/Content/EconomicNews.aspx
  3. www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/PPI/highest-performance.aspx
  4. www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/GDP/highest-performance.aspx
  5. www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/unemployment-rate/lowest-performance.aspx
  6. www.rttnews.com/economic-scorecard/world-rank/CPI/highest-performance.aspx