Australia Leading Indexes On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Australia will on Wednesday see December numbers for the Conference Board leading index and January results for the Westpac leading index, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

In November, the Conference Board index added 0.1 percent, while the Westpac index was flat in December.

The Bank of Japan will release its statement on monetary policy, with BoJ Governor Hiroki Kuroda fielding questions afterward.

Japan also will see final January numbers for machine tool orders; in December, orders surged 20.4 percent on year.

Malaysia will provide consumer price data for January, with forecasts suggesting an annual inflation rate of 1.9 percent - down sharply from 2.7 percent in December.

Finally, stock markets in South Korea, Taiwan and China are closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.