Japan is on Thursday scheduled to release February figures for imports, exports and trade balance, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.
Imports are expected to rise 15.0 percent on year following the 7.3 percent increase in January. Exports are called lower by an annual 1.7 percent after adding 6.4 percent in the previous month. The trade balance is expected to reflect a deficit of 855.9 billion yen after showing a shortfall of 1,630.9 billion yen a month earlier.
Japan also will release January figures for its all industry activity index, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 1.3 percent on month following the 1.8 percent increase in December.
China will see the March results for the HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI, with analysts expecting a score of 50.8 - up from 50.4 in February.
New Zealand will provide February figures for credit card spending; in January, credit card spending was down 2.5 percent on month and up 0.4 percent on year.
Malaysia will provide unemployment data for January; in December, the rate came in at 3.4 percent and the participation rate was 65.0 percent.
Hong Kong will announce February's inflation rate, as well as Q4 current account data. CPI is expected to rise to 4.0 percent from 3.0 percent in January. The current account in Q3 saw a surplus of HKD29.21 billion.
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June 12, 2026 17:14 ET Major central bank action was the focus this week in economic news. The European Central Bank became the first major central bank to move in response to the rising inflationary pressures in the backdrop of the conflict in the Middle East. In North America, the U.S. inflation and trade data as well as Canada’s central bank decision gained attention. The Chinese trade data was the main news in Asia.