Japan is scheduled to release a raft of data on Thursday, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. On tap are March figures for industrial production, retail sales, construction orders and housing starts, as well as April results for its consumer confidence index.
In February, industrial production was down 2.0 percent on month and retail sales slipped an annual 0.2 percent. Construction orders surged 42.7 percent on year and housing starts sank an annual 4.9 percent. The household confidence index had a score of 33.3 in March.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.