Japan GDP On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - Japan is on Wednesday scheduled to release preliminary gross domestic product numbers for the third quarter of 2013, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

GDP is expected to add 0.4 percent on quarter and 1.6 percent annualized after rising 0.9 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively, in the second quarter. The GDP deflator is expected to hold steady at -0.5 percent on quarter.

Japan also will see final September figures for industrial production, with little change expected from last month's preliminary reading that suggested an increase of 1.5 percent on month and 5.4 percent on year.

Australia will provide November numbers for inflation expectation, as well as October figures for new motor vehicle sales. In October, the inflation expectation was 2.0 percent. In September, new car sales were down 0.1 percent on month and 3.5 percent on year.

New Zealand will announce non-resident bond holding data for October, and also see November results for the consumer confidence index from ANZ. Bond holdings were up 67.0 percent in September, while the consumer confidence index gained 2.9 percent on month to a score of 122.3 in October.

The Bank of Korea will conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates; the bank is widely expected to keep rates on hold at 2.50 percent.