Australia Rate Decision On Tap For Tuesday

(RTTNews) - The Reserve Bank of Australia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The RBA is expected to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, to 2.85 percent from 3.60 percent.

Australia also see December numbers for building approvals, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 6.4 percent on month following the 15.2 percent spike in November.

New Zealand also will see December data for building consents; in November, consents were up 2.8 percent on month.

Japan will provide January numbers for its monetary base, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 10.2 percent on year following the 9.8 percent drop in December.

South Korea will release January figures for consumer prices, with expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent on month and 2.1 percent on year. That follows the 0.3 percent monthly increase and the 2.3 percent annual gain in December.

Hong Kong will see preliminary Q4 data for gross domestic product and December numbers for retail sales. In Q3, GDP was up 0.7 percent on quarter and 3.8 percent on year, while retail sales rose an annual 6.5 percent in November.