The economic calendar sees the release of Japanese trade data, machinery orders and the closely-watched ‘tertiary activity index’, as well as Australian unemployment and Chinese house prices.
Japan’s GDP figures on Wednesday were much weaker than expected, leading economists at Barclays and elsewhere to cut their 2023 and 2024 growth forecasts.
But financial conditions in Japan are the loosest since 1990, according to Goldman Sachs, which is partly why the Bank of Japan has stepped up its hawkish rhetoric and may end its negative interest rate policy early next year.
Laying that ground at a time when the economy is shrinking, however, is not ideal.
China’s house price data will be closely watched for signs that the property sector is beginning to stabilize. There are signs of stabilization elsewhere in Chinese markets – the yuan is its strongest in three months against the dollar, and foreigners are increasing their holdings of China’s onshore yuan bonds.
On the policy front, the Philippine central bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged at 6.50% on Thursday, although there’s an outside chance it might hike to 6.75%.
On the corporate front, China’s Alibaba and Lenovo release their latest earnings reports.
