Tuesday's session brought Home Loans data from Australia. Number of Home Loans rose by 1.6% in March, in seasonally adjusted terms, thus beating forecasts on 1.1% incline. Construction of dwellings fell by 1.8%, but the purchase of new dwellings rose by 2.9%, while the purchase of established dwellings increased by 2.0%. In seasonally adjusted terms, the total value of dwelling finance commitments excluding alterations and additions rose by 3.5%.
From China, on Wednesday, Industrial Production figures were released. China's Industrial output rose 5.9% in April from a year earlier, slightly below expectations on 6.1% increase but up from March's 5.6%. Non-rural fixed-asset investment rose 12% in the Jan-April period, missing forecasts for 13.5%. Retail sales rose 10%, also missing predictions. Premier Li Keqiang is opening the monetary tap to stem an economic slowdown, with the third interest rate cut in the last six months announced on Sunday. Today’s data suggests the previous measures have started to show some effects on growth.
Also, Australian quarterly Wage Prices index data was released. Seasonally adjusted index for Australia rose 0.5% in the March quarter 2015, missing expectations on 0.6% incline. The Private sector rose 0.4% seasonally adjusted, and the Public sector rose 0.5%.The rises in indexes at the industry level ranged from 0.1% for Administrative and support services to 1.0% for Education and training.
This week markets will be looking at:
New Motor Vehicle Sales (Monday 3:30)
Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (Tuesday 3:30)
Westpac Consumer Sentiment (Wednesday 2:30)
HSBC Flash Manufacturing PMI (Thursday 3:45)