Japan Industrial Production On Tap For Friday

(RTTNews) - Japan will on Friday see final January figures for industrial production, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Little change is expected from last month's preliminary reading that suggested a 4.0 percent monthly increase and a 2.6 percent yearly decline. Capacity utilization was pegged at 2.0 percent on month.

Singapore will release Q4 data for unemployment, with analysts expecting the jobless rate to hold steady at 1.9 percent.

Singapore also will see January numbers for retail sales, with analysts expecting a decline of 1.1 percent on month and an increase of 0.6 percent on year. That follows the 2.0 percent monthly drop and the 2.6 percent yearly gain in December.

Hong Kong will provide Q4 numbers for industrial production and producer prices; in the third quarter, output was down 1.8 percent on year and PPI added 1.3 percent.