Asia week ahead: China GDP report to set the tone next week – ING

Economists at ING offered a brief preview of next week important macro releases, including the Chinese GDP report and Australian labour market report.

Key Quotes:

“When China releases its activity and GDP data on Monday, we expect to see a slight uptrend in retail sales and fixed asset investments, as the job market has started to stabilise and the government has encouraged the start of infrastructure investments managed by local governments. GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2021 will be down compared to the previous quarter, due to defaults in real estate companies and some base effect.”

“Australia’s December labour report follows on from the strong gains on reopening seen in November. Most of the jobs lost during the last lockdown look to have been restored, though there may be some shift from part-time to full-time workers, and a rising participation rate may result in a modestly higher unemployment rate before it begins to decline again over 2022. Until wages and inflation data are released, this should not have too much impact on expectations for the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy this year.”