Articles
6 December 2019

Asia week ahead: Another big data splurge

Activity releases from China, Japan and India, and central bank meeting in the Philippines dominate Asian economic calendar, making it another busy week for markets 

150318-image-asia_1.png
Shutterstock

Trade news dominates

As the noise around 'phase one' US-China trade deal intensifies further as the mid-December deadline approaches, China's combined October-November activity growth will give some sense of the economy’s performance in the current quarter. Judging from a rebound in manufacturing PMIs last month, things have stopped getting worse. We anticipate more evidence of this in the forthcoming data supporting our view of GDP growth gaining some traction in this quarter.

Japanese economic data should reinforce the continued weak state of the economy as the markets digest today’s announcement by prime minister Shinzo Abe of $240 billion in fresh stimulus. The key item on the calendar is the Bank of Japan’s quarterly manufacturing Tankan index with expectations of the lowest reading of large manufacturing Tankan in seven years. This comes as domestic spending is taking a hit from the consumption tax hike this quarter, while exports remain under pressure from the trade war.

Of all the Indian data next week, November consumer price inflation will be closely watched in light of surprise pause in RBI easing. Food prices are pushing inflation higher, taking prices above 5% in the last month, closer to the top end of the RBI's 2-4% policy target. Persistent downside growth risk will be revealed by another deeper fall in industrial production in October, we don’t see inflation becoming a hurdle for more RBI easing.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s exports and Malaysia’s manufacturing data should shed some light on the stage of the electronics cycle. We have seen signs of it bottomed out and would look for more evidence of the same.

Finally, the Philippines central bank policy meeting next Thursday (12 December) should be a non-event with higher November inflation likely to force a pause in rate cuts.

Asia Economic Calendar

Source: ING, Bloomberg, *GMT
ING, Bloomberg, *GMT

Disclaimer

"THINK Outside" is a collection of specially commissioned content from third-party sources, such as economic think-tanks and academic institutions, that ING deems reliable and from non-research departments within ING. ING Bank N.V. ("ING") uses these sources to expand the range of opinions you can find on the THINK website. Some of these sources are not the property of or managed by ING, and therefore ING cannot always guarantee the correctness, completeness, actuality and quality of such sources, nor the availability at any given time of the data and information provided, and ING cannot accept any liability in this respect, insofar as this is permissible pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations.

This publication does not necessarily reflect the ING house view. This publication has been prepared solely for information purposes without regard to any particular user's investment objectives, financial situation, or means. The information in the publication is not an investment recommendation and it is not investment, legal or tax advice or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any financial instrument. Reasonable care has been taken to ensure that this publication is not untrue or misleading when published, but ING does not represent that it is accurate or complete. ING does not accept any liability for any direct, indirect or consequential loss arising from any use of this publication. Unless otherwise stated, any views, forecasts, or estimates are solely those of the author(s), as of the date of the publication and are subject to change without notice.

The distribution of this publication may be restricted by law or regulation in different jurisdictions and persons into whose possession this publication comes should inform themselves about, and observe, such restrictions.

Copyright and database rights protection exists in this report and it may not be reproduced, distributed or published by any person for any purpose without the prior express consent of ING. All rights are reserved.

ING Bank N.V. is authorised by the Dutch Central Bank and supervised by the European Central Bank (ECB), the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) and the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). ING Bank N.V. is incorporated in the Netherlands (Trade Register no. 33031431 Amsterdam).