South Korea Interest Rate Decision Due On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Friday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 0.50 percent.

Australia will release November numbers for home loans; in October, the number of loans was up 0.8 percent on month, while investment lending rose 0.3 percent.

Japan will provide November figures for its tertiary industry index, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent following the 1.0 percent increase in October.

China will see house price data for December; in November, house prices were up 4.0 percent on year.

Indonesia will see December numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to tumble 12.47 percent on year after sinking 17.46 percent in October. Exports are called higher by an annual 6.3 percent, slowing from the 9.54 percent gain in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $2.3 billion, down from $2.62 billion a month earlier.