Three interest rate decisions are scheduled for release on Thursday, highlighting a busy day in Asia-Pacific economic news. On tap are central bank announcements in South Korea, Indonesia and Japan.
The Bank of Korea is expected to keep rates on hold at 2.50 percent, while Indonesia's central bank is tipped to raise rates by 25 basis points - from 6.00 percent to 6.25 percent. The Bank of Japan is expected to keep rates at the record low 0-0.10 percent.
Japan also will see May figures for machine orders, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 1.9 percent on month and 3.3 percent on year. That follows the 8.8 percent monthly plunge and the 1.1 percent annual contraction in April.
Australia will release June unemployment data, with analysts expecting no change in the number of jobs following the addition of 1,100 jobs in May. The unemployment rate is expected to rise to 5.6 percent from 5.5 percent in the previous month.
New Zealand will provide food price figures for June, and also see June results for the Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index. In May, food prices were up 0.3 percent on month, while the manufacturing index saw a score of 59.2.
Malaysia will announce May numbers for industrial and manufacturing production. Industrial output is expected to fall 1.0 percent on month but rise 0.9 percent on year following the 3.0 percent monthly gain and the 4.7 percent annual increase in April. Manufacturing production was up 5.4 percent on month and 6.0 percent on year in the previous month.
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April 24, 2026 15:15 ET Economics news flow was relatively light this week even as the conflict in the Middle East continued, raising concerns for policymakers. In the U.S., spending data, initial jobless claims and pending home sales were the highlights. Business confidence in the biggest euro area economy was in focus in Europe. Inflation data from Japan gained attention in Asia.