Malaysia GDP On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - Malaysia will on Thursday release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product and current account, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic news.

GDP is expected to add 2.3 percent on quarter and 5.0 percent on year after gaining 0.9 percent on quarter and 5.6 percent on year in the previous three months. The current account surplus is called at 9.84 million ringgit, up from 7.59 million ringgit in Q3.

Japan will see December data for core machine orders, with analysts looking for an increase of 2.3 percent on month and 5.6 percent on year. That follows the 1.3 percent monthly gain and the 5.6 percent annual increase in November.

Japan also will see January figures for domestic corporate goods prices, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 0.6 percent on month and a gain of 1.1 percent on year. That follows the 0.4 percent monthly contraction and the 1.9 percent yearly increase in December.

Australia will provide January numbers for unemployment, with the jobless rate expected to rise to 6.2 percent from 6.1 percent in December. The loss of 5,000 jobs is expected following the addition of 37,400 in the previous month.

Australia also will see December numbers for credit card purchases and February's inflation forecast. Card spending in November was at A$22.7 billion, while the inflation forecast for January was 3.2 percent.

Finally, the central bank in the Philippines will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to hold its benchmark steady at 4.0 percent.