South Korea Interest Rate Decision On Tap For Friday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Korea will on Friday conclude its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The BOK is forecast to hike its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, from 1.00 percent to 1.25 percent.

China will release December numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. Imports are expected to rise 26.3 percent on year, slowing from 31.7 percent in November. Exports are called higher by an annual 20.0 percent, down from 22.0 percent in the previous month. The trade surplus is pegged at $74.5 billion, up from $71.72 billion a month earlier.

Japan will see December data for producer prices, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 0.3 percent on month and 8.8 percent on year - slowing from 0.6 percent on month and 9.0 percent on year in November.