Asia in Focus: BoJ Meeting and China's Retail Sales Highlight the Week

Asia week ahead: BoJ meeting plus retail sales from China

The Bank of Japan meets next week but don’t expect any changes. China has a raft of data but we’ll be particularly focused on retail sales.

 

BoJ policy meeting but don't expect any changes at this meeting

We have changed our view on the Bank of Japan’s policy in the near term based on Governor Kazuo Ueda’s recent dovish comments. We expect the BoJ to keep all its current policy settings unchanged at its policy meeting next week. Likewise, a potential tweak in the BoJ’s yield curve control policy is not likely to happen this month. However, should inflation remain at current levels in the second half of the year, we could still see a possible adjustment in the YCC policy over the next few months.

 

Retail sales in China to be in focus

China will release the usual raft of data on economic activity for May. This will include industrial production, fixed asset investment, construction, and retail sales. Of these, most attention will probably be on the retail sales number, as consumer spending is what is keeping the economy afloat while production and construction both struggle amidst a tough global trade environment.

 

But the news on retail sales will probably not be very encouraging. We anticipate a 13.8% year-on-year increase in retail sales, which only looks this strong due to a very weak base comparison period, and is equivalent to around a 1% month-on-month decrease in sales adjusted for seasonality. Residential construction is likely to remain depressed, as is production.