Nominations for the next Bank of Japan governor will be submitted to the Japanese parliament next week. Japan saw its first year-over-year increase in real cash earnings since March.
Bank of Korea policymaker Suh said that the Korean economy can withstand interest rate differentials with the U.S.
The Reserve Bank of Australia increased its cash rate by 25 bps to 3.35%, as expected, and noted that additional increases will be needed in the coming months.
Japan’s December Household Spending -2.1% m/m (expected 0.3%; last -0.9%); -1.3% yr/yr (expected -0.2%; last -1.2%). December Average Cash Earnings 4.8% yr/yr (expected 2.5%; last 1.9%). December Leading Index -0.5% m/m (last -1.2%) and Coincident Indicator -0.4% m/m (last -0.3%)
Australia’s December trade surplus AUD12.24 bln (expected surplus of AUD12.50 bln; last surplus of AUD13.48 bln). December Imports 1.0% m/m (last -3.1%) and Exports -1.0% m/m (last -1.0%)