Japan Rate Decision, Inflation Data Due On Friday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Japan 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 BoJ is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 0.75 percent from 0.50 percent.

Japan also will see November numbers for consumer prices; in October, overall national inflation was up 0.4 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year, while core CPI was up 0.3 percent on year.

Australia will provide November data for private sector credit, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.6 percent on month - easing from 0.7 percent.

New Zealand will see November figures for credit card spending; in October, spending was up 1.4 percent both on month and on year.

Malaysia will release November numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 7.2 percent on year, down from 11.2 percent in October. Exports are called higher by an annual 7.8 percent, moderating from 15.7 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus in October was MYR19.00 billion.