FX.co ★ Japan Data, Interest Rate Decision Due On Wednesday

The Bank of Japan is set to conclude its monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, announcing its decision on interest rates amidst a busy day for economic activities in the Asia-Pacific region. The BoJ is anticipated to maintain its benchmark lending rate at 0.10 percent.

Japan will also disclose several economic indicators for June, including industrial production, retail sales, housing starts, and construction orders, along with July’s household confidence index results.

Industrial production is forecasted to decline by 4.2 percent month-on-month, following a 3.6 percent increase in May. Retail sales are expected to rise by 3.3 percent annually, up from 3.0 percent in the previous month. Housing starts are projected to decrease by 2.3 percent year-on-year after a 5.3 percent drop in the prior month. Construction orders saw a 2.1 percent annual increase in May, while the household confidence index recorded a score of 36.4 in June.

New Zealand will release June figures for building consents and July results for business confidence from ANZ and the activity index from NBNZ. Building permits declined by 1.7 percent in May, while July reported a business confidence score of 6.1 and a 12.2 percent increase in the activity index.

South Korea will unveil June data for industrial production and retail sales. Industrial production is expected to decrease by 0.7 percent month-on-month but increase by 2.3 percent year-on-year, following a 1.2 percent monthly dip and a 3.5 percent annual rise in May. Retail sales fell by 0.2 percent month-on-month in May.

Australia will publish June figures for private sector credit and retail sales, as well as Q2 data for consumer prices. Private sector credit is anticipated to remain steady at 0.4 percent month-on-month, while retail sales are expected to grow by 0.3 percent, slowing from May's 0.6 percent increase. Inflation is forecasted to rise by 1.0 percent quarterly and 3.8 percent annually, in comparison to a 1.0 percent quarterly and 3.6 percent annual increase in the prior quarter.

China will report July figures for its manufacturing, non-manufacturing, and composite PMIs from the National Bureau of Statistics. In June, these scores were 49.5, 50.5, and 50.5, respectively.

Thailand will release June results for industrial production, imports, exports, trade balance, and current account. In May, industrial production declined by 1.54 percent year-on-year, imports fell by 2.3 percent, exports rose by 7.8 percent annually, the trade surplus reached $2.80 billion, and the current account registered a $0.700 billion surplus.

Taiwan is set to reveal preliminary Q2 GDP figures, with forecasts indicating a 4.65 percent annual increase, down from a 6.56 percent rise in the previous quarter.

Hong Kong will release preliminary Q2 GDP data; the first quarter saw GDP growth of 2.3 percent quarter-on-quarter and 2.7 percent year-on-year.