Bank Of Japan Minutes Due On Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Japan will on Thursday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on November 20 and 21, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the BoJ left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.10 percent.

Japan also will see November numbers for housing starts and construction orders, as well as December figures for small business confidence and the Nomura manufacturing PMI.

In October, housing starts climbed 7.1 percent on year and construction orders surged an annual 61.1 percent. In November, the business confidence index saw a score of 51.1, while the manufacturing PMI came in at 55.1.

Singapore will provide November numbers for industrial production, with analysts expecting a decline of 9.0 percent on month and 2.0 percent on year. That follows the flat monthly reading and the 8.0 percent yearly increase in October.

Finally, some of the regional markets remain closed on Thursday for the Christmas holiday, including Hong Kong and Indonesia. Markets in New Zealand and Australia also are closed for Boxing Day.