Singapore GDP On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - Singapore will on Wednesday release final Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity.

January's preliminary reading suggested an increase of 5.7 percent on quarter and 2.0 percent on year following the 1.7 percent quarterly increase and the 1.8 percent gain in the third quarter. For all of 2015, Singapore's GDP was pegged at 2.1 percent.

Japan will see producer price figures for January, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent following the 0.4 percent gain in December.

Japan also will provide final December numbers for the leading and coincident indexes, plus the February score for its small business confidence index.

The leading index was pegged at 102.0 in its previous reading, while the coincident was 111.2. The small business confidence index is expected to see a score of 47.1, down from 47.2 in January.

Australia will see January numbers for skilled vacancies, plus Q4 figures for wage costs and construction work done.

Vacancies were up 0.4 percent in December, while construction work is expected to slide 2.0 percent after slipping 3.6 percent in Q3. Wage costs are called steady, higher by 0.6 percent on quarter and 2.3 percent on year.

Malaysia will release January data for consumer prices, with inflation expected to have risen 0.4 percent on month and 4.0 percent on year. That follows the flat monthly reading and the 2.7 percent yearly increase in December.

The Philippines will provide December figures for imports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 10.7 percent on year after gaining 10.1 percent in November. The trade deficit is pegged at $.400 billion following the $977 million shortfall in the previous month.

Hong Kong will release Q4 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts calling for an increase of 0.2 percent on quarter and 2.3 percent on year. That follows the 0.9 percent quarterly increase and the 2.3 percent yearly gain in the three months prior.

Taiwan will see January data for export orders, with analysts looking for a decline of 10.5 percent on year. That follows the 12.3 percent contraction in December.