The value of core machinery orders in Japan was down a seasonally adjusted 9.4 percent on month in March, the Cabinet Office said on Thursday - coming in at 1,010.9 billion yen. That missed forecasts for a decline of 7.7 percent after jumping 13.6 percent in February. On a yearly basis, orders...
Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 301.9 billion yen in April, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. That blew away forecasts for a deficit of 29.7 billion yen following the 643.0 billion yen surplus in March. Exports were up 14.8 percent on year to 10.507 trillion yen, beating expectations...
The manufacturing sector in Australia continued to expand in May, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from S&P Global revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.2. That's down from 51.3 in April, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from...
New Zealand posted a merchandise trade surplus of NZ$1.920 billion in April, Statistics New Zealand said on Thursday. That blew away expectations for s surplus of NZ$980 million following the downwardly revised NZ$430 million surplus in March (originally NZ$698 million). Exports came in at NZ$8.62...
Australia will on Thursday release April numbers for unemployment, highlighting a bust day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 4.3 percent, with the addition of 16,700 jobs following the increase of 17,900 jobs in March. The participation rate is also...
Producer prices in South Korea climbed 2.5 percent on month in April, the Bank of Korea said on Thursday - up from 1.7 percent in March. Individually, prices for agricultural, forestry and marine products slipped 1.0 percent on month, while manufacturing products jumped 4.4 percent, utilities rose...
Taiwan's export order growth moderated in April after rebounding sharply in the previous month. Export orders grew 48.1 percent year-over-year in April, slower than the 65.9 percent surge in March. Orders for information and communication products grew 89.7 percent from last year. On a monthly basis, export orders dropped 0.4 percent.
Bank Indonesia raised its benchmark interest rates by a larger-than-expected half percentage points on Wednesday, as it struggles to stabilize the rupiah exchange rate amid geopolitical tensions. The board of governors, governed by Perry Warjiyo, decided to hike the BI rate by 50 basis points to 5.25 percent.
The Malaysian foreign trade surplus increased sharply in April from a year ago as exports grew faster than imports. The trade surplus rose to MYR 28.8 billion in April from MYR 5.1 billion in the same month last year. The surplus also rose from MYR 24.5 billion in March. Exports surged 36.9 percent year-on-year in April, and imports were 20.0 percent higher.
China maintained its loan prime rates unchanged for the twelfth straight month, as widely expected, on Wednesday. The People's Bank of China maintained its one-year loan prime rate at 3.0 percent. Similarly, the five-year LPR, the benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 3.50 percent.
The central bank in Indonesia will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The benchmark lending rate (4.75 percent), deposit facility rate (3.75 percent) and lending facility rate (5.50 percent)...
Hong Kong's unemployment rate held steady in the three months ending in April. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate came in at 3.7 percent in February to April, the same as in the January to March period. Without adjustment, the unemployment rate edged higher to 3.7 percent from 3.6 percent. The number of unemployed people was 139,200 compared to 136,600 in the January to March period.
Malaysia's consumer price inflation rose further in April to the highest level in one-and-half years. The consumer price index posted an annual increase of 1.9 percent after rising 1.7 percent in March. That was in line with expectations. Inflation based on transportation quickened to 4.1 percent from 1.6 percent, and that on information and communication rose to 2.0 percent from 1.4 percent.
Japan's industrial output decreased slightly less than initially estimated at the end of the first quarter. Industrial production dropped 0.4 percent monthly in March, slower than the 2.0 percent fall in February. In the flash estimate, the rate of decrease was 0.5 percent. Shipments fell 0.9 percent, and inventories and inventory ratios declined by 1.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
Japan's gross domestic product expanded a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on quarter in the first quarter of 2026, the Cabinet Office said in Tuesday's preliminary reading. That beat expectations for a gain of 0.4 percent and was up from the downwardly revised 0.2 percent increase in the three months...
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.