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JAPAN CORE MACHINE ORDERS SLIP 4.5% ON MONTH IN JANUARY



The value of core machine orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 4.5 percent on month in January, the Cabinet Office said on Monday - coming in at 2,397.4 billion yen.

That exceeded expectations for a decline of 5.5 percent following the upwardly revised 5.3 percent increase in December (originally 5.2 percent).

On a yearly basis, core machine orders climbed 1.5 percent - again beating forecasts for a decline of 0.2 percent after spiking 11.8 percent in the previous month.

The forecast for Q1 2021 core machine orders suggests a decline of 6.0 percent on quarter and 5.2 percent on year.

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AUSTRALIA HOUSE PRICE INDEX CLIMBS 3.0% IN Q4



The house price index in Australia was up 3.0 percent on quarter in the fourth quarter of 2020, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

That beat forecasts for an increase of 2.0 percent following the 0.8 percent increase in the previous three months.

On a yearly basis, the house price index gained 3.6 percent, slowing from 4.5 percent in the three months prior.

The total value of residential dwellings in Australia rose A$257.9 billion to A$7,724.4 billion in Q4.

The mean price of residential dwellings rose A$21,300 to A$728,500, while the number of residential dwellings rose by 44,100 to 10,602,700.

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SINGAPORE NON-OIL EXPORTS JUMP 8.2% ON MONTH IN FEBRUARY



The value of non-oil domestic exports in Singapore jumped a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent on month in February, Statistics Singapore said on Wednesday.

That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the downwardly revised 6.9 percent increase in January (originally 7.0 percent).

On a yearly basis, exports gained 4.2 percent - shy of expectations for 6.6 percent following the downwardly revised 12.7 percent increase in the previous month (originally 12.8 percent).

Total trade was down 3.3 percent on year after slipping 1.9 percent in January. It was up 6.0 percent on month after rising 5.7 percent in January.

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EUROPEAN ECONOMICS PREVIEW: BANK OF ENGLAND MONETARY POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT DUE



The monetary policy announcement is due from the Bank of England on Thursday, headlining a busy day for the European economic news.

The central bank is expected to keep its interest rate unchanged at 0.10 percent and to maintain the size of quantitative easing at GBP 895 billion. The announcement is due at 7.00 am ET.

Other major economic reports due for the day are as follows

At 3.30 am ET, the Federal Statistical Office is scheduled to release Swiss producer prices for February. Prices had decreased 2.1 percent on year in January.

At 4.30 am ET, Italy's Istat publishes foreign trade data for January. Also, industrial production and producer prices are due from Poland. Poland's industrial output is forecast to grow 3.9 percent annually and producer prices to gain 1.3 percent on year in February.

In the meantime, Norges Bank announces its interest rate decision.

At 6.00 am ET, Eurostat publishes foreign trade data. The trade surplus is expected to fall to EUR 25.3 billion in January from EUR 29.2 billion in December. At 7.00 am ET, Turkey's central bank announces its interest rate decision. The bank is expected to raise its one-week repo rate to 18.00 percent from 17.00 percent.

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AUSTRALIA RETAIL SALES SINK 1.1% IN FEBRUARY



The total value of retail sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 1.1 percent on month in February, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Friday - coming in at A$30.192 billion.

That missed expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent following the 0.3 percent gain in January.

By industry, food retailing led the falls, down 3 percent. All states and territories saw a fall in Food retailing, although the industry remains 6.5 percent above the levels of February 2020.

On a yearly basis, retail sales were up 8.7 percent.

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CHINA LEAVES BENCHMARK LENDING RATES UNCHANGED



China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged, as widely expected, on Monday. The one-year loan prime rate was retained at 3.85 percent and the five-year loan prime rate was maintained at 4.65 percent.

The one-year and five-year loan prime rates were last lowered in April 2020. The one-year loan prime rate was cut by 20 basis points and five-year rate by 10 basis points in April.

The inaction did not come as a surprise since the People's Bank of China had not adjusted the rate on its medium-term lending facility this month as it did ahead of the past three LPR moves, Julian Evans-Pritchard and Sheana Yue, economists at Capital Economics, said.

The scope for hiking rates this year is diminishing. The PBOC appears to favor quantitative controls on lending instead, they noted. Either way, credit conditions are set to be less favorable this year.

The loan prime rate is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks, though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. This new lending rate replaced the central bank's traditional benchmark lending rate in August 2019.

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NEW ZEALAND CREDIT CARD SPENDING DATA DUE ON TUESDAY



New Zealand will on Tuesday release February figures for credit card spending, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In January, card spending was down 10.6 percent on year.

Singapore will provide February numbers for consumer prices. In January, overall inflation was flat on month and up 0.2 percent on year, while core CPI fell an annual 0.2 percent.

Taiwan will see February figures for industrial production and retail sales; in January, they were up 18.81 percent and 3.56 percent, respectively.

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JAPAN MANUFACTURING PMI CLIMBS TO 52.0 IN FEBRUARY - JIBUN



The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in March, and at a slightly faster pace, the latest survey from Jibun Bank showed on Wednesday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.0.

That's up from 51.4 in February and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

Output growth softened slightly, although new orders expanded at their fastest pace since October 2018. But job shedding persisted and sentiment eased to a nine-month low. Japan's services PMI came in at 46.5, up from 45.8 in February, while the composite index had a score of 48.3 - up from 48.2 in the previous month.

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HONG KONG TRADE DATA DUE ON THURSDAY



Hong Kong will on Thursday release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

In January, imports were up 37.7 percent on year and exports surged an annual 44 percent for a trade deficit of HKD25.2 billion.


Thailand will provide February numbers for industrial production, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.6 percent on year following the 2.8 percent contraction in January.

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SOUTH KOREA CONSUMER CONFIDENCE IMPROVES IN MARCH



South Korea's consumer confidence improved in March, survey results from Bank of Korea showed on Friday.

The consumer confidence index rose to 100.5 in March from 97.4 in February.

The indicator measuring current living standards rose two points to 89 in March and that concerning the outlook for living standards increased one points to 95.

Consumer sentiment related to future household income remained unchanged at 96 and future spending index grew three points to 107.

Consumer sentiment concerning current domestic conditions increased nine points to 72 and future domestic economic conditions rose three points to 93.

The expected inflation rate for the following year was 2.1 percent versus 2.0 percent a month ago.

The survey was conducted among 2,500 households between March 9 and 16.

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