2021.05.0422:00:00UTC+00New Zealand Unemployment Data Due On Wednesday

New Zealand will on Wednesday release jobless figures for the first quarter of 2021, highlighting a busy day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The unemployment rate is called steady at 4.9 percent, while employment is expected to add 0.2 percent on quarter after rising 0.6 percent in the three months prior.

Australia will see April results for the Performance of Construction Index from AiG and March figures for building permits. In March, the construction index had a score of 61.8, while permits are tipped to gain 3.0 percent on month after surging 21.6 percent in February.

Singapore will provide March figures for retail sales; in February, sales were down 1.6 percent on month and up 5.2 percent on year.

Indonesia will release Q1 numbers for gross domestic product, with forecasts suggesting a decline of 1.04 percent on quarter and 0.74 percent on year. That follows the 0.42 percent quarterly decline and the 2.19 percent yearly drop in the three months prior.

The central bank in Thailand will wrap up its monetary policy meeting and then announce its decision on interest rates. The central bank is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at the current level of 0.50 percent.

Thailand also will see April numbers for inflation, with overall consumer prices expected to rise 2.5 percent on year after easing 0.08 percent in March. Core CPI is tipped to add an annual 0.18 percent after gaining 0.09 percent a month earlier.

The Philippines will release April numbers for consumer prices. In March, overall inflation was down 0.2 percent on month and up 4.5 percent on year, while core CPI gained an annual 3.5 percent.

Markit Economics will release April PMI data for Australia (services and composite), Hong Kong and Singapore (private sector) and Thailand (manufacturing).

Finally, the market in Japan (Children's Day), China (Labor Day) and South Korea (Children's Day) are closed on Wednesday and will reopen on Thursday.