Consumers are in focus in Asia-Pacific trade with Japan and Australia retail sales to come

It’s a rare February 29. Happy birthday to all those who only get to celebrate every four years.

Eamonn is off today so I’ll do my best to fill in. One thing I’m working on are some March seasonals, so check back for that.

In terms of economic data, it’s all about the consumer starting in about an hour (8:50 am in Tokyo, 2350 GMT) we get Japanese retail sales for January. The consensus is a 2.3% rise. At the same time, we get January industrial production, which is forecast to fall a hefty 7.3%.

Ten minutes later, the focus shifts to New Zealand with the Feb ANZ business outlook. Then at 0030 GMT to Australia for Q4 capex data, and the January retail sales report. The later is forecast to rise 1.5%.

Finally, we get Japanese housing starts at 0500 GMT. They’re expected to fall 7.7%.