The Bank of Japan will on Wednesday release the minutes from its monetary policy meeting on May 22 and 23, setting the pace for a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic activity. At that meeting,
The board voted unanimously to abstain from announcing more stimulus after boosting its asset purchases in the previous month to fight deflation and support the economic recovery. The board also decided to retain the key uncollateralized overnight call rate steady at 0 to 0.1 percent.
Japan also will see trade balance data and convenience store sales for May, plus April's all-industry activity index. Imports are expected to rise 3.3 percent on year after collecting 8 percent in April. Exports are called higher by 9.7 percent on year after rising 7.9 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to show a deficit of 583 billion yen following the 520.3 billion yen shortfall a month earlier. Convenience store sales saw an annual increase of 6.1 percent in April. The all-industry index is tipped to rise 0.1 percent on month after easing 0.3 percent in March.
New Zealand will announce the current account balance for the first quarter of 2012, with analysts suggesting a deficit of NZ$1.145 billion following the NZ$2.763 billion shortfall in the previous three months.
Australia will provide Q1 figures for dwelling starts, April index numbers from Westpac and the Conference Board, and May figures for skilled vacancies. Dwelling starts are expected to fall 2.3 percent after shedding 6.9 percent in the previous quarter. The Westpac leading index added 0.4 percent on month in March, while the Conference Board's index collected 0.2 percent a month prior. Skilled vacancies fell 0.8 percent on month in April.
Malaysia will release CPI data for May; inflation was higher by 1.9 percent on year and flat on month in April.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.