2018.08.2918:00:00UTC+00Japan Retail Sales Data Due On Thursday

Japan will on Thursday release July numbers for retail sales, headlining a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

Retail sales are expected to ease 0.3 percent on month and climb 1.2 percent on year after rising 1.5 percent on month and 1.8 percent on year in June. Large retailer sales are called lower by 0.7 percent on year after gaining 1.5 percent in the previous month.

New Zealand will see July figures for building permits, as well as August results for the business confidence index and activity outlook from ANZ.

Building permits tumbled 7.6 percent on month in June, while the business confidence index score was -44.9 in July and the activity outlook came in at +3.8.

Australia will provide July numbers for building approvals, plus Q2 figures for private capital expenditure.

Building approvals are expected to fall 2.0 percent on month and 3.0 percent on year after jumping 6.4 percent on month and 1.6 percent on year in June. Capex is tipped to add 0.6 percent, up from 0.4 percent in the three months prior.

Hong Kong will release retail sales data for July, with forecasts suggesting an increase of 8.0 percent on year - slowing from 9.8 percent in June.

Malaysia will see July figures for producer prices; in June, producer prices were down 0.7 percent on month and up 0.1 percent on year.