Asia-Pacific Week Ahead

     JAPAN

     The highlight of the week will be release Friday of the Bank of Japan's

quarterly Tankan business survey for December, which is expected to show

sentiment among many business sectors improved slightly from three months ago,

thanks to a pickup in overseas and domestic demand and rising share prices.

     Bank of Japan

     No public speeches by BOJ board members are scheduled ahead of the bank's

next policy meeting on Dec. 20-21.

     Data

     Tuesday, 8:50 am JST (2350 GMT): The BOJ releases the November corporate

goods price index (CGPI), a key indicator of producer prices. The MNI survey

median forecast: domestic CGPI +3.3% on year, an 11th straight y/y rise vs.

+3.4% in October; +0.2% on month vs. +0.3% in October.

     Wednesday, 8:50 am JST (2350 GMT): The Cabinet Office releases October

machinery orders. The MNI survey median forecast: core private-sector orders,

which exclude volatile orders for power generation equipment and ships, +3.0% on

month, the first rise in two months vs. -8.1% in September.

     Friday, 8:50 am JST (2350 GMT): The BOJ releases its quarterly Tankan

business survey for December. The MNI survey median forecast: the diffusion

index for major manufacturers +23 vs. +22 in September; the DI for major

non-manufacturers +24 vs. +23 in September.; capital investment plans by major

firms for fiscal 2017 +7.2% on year vs. +7.7% in September.

     Japanese Government Bonds

     Upward pressure on Japanese government bond yields may emerge if the yen

remains relatively weak against the dollar. But a sharp rise in JGB yields is

unlikely in the face of investor bargain-hunting. The 10-year bond yield rose to

0.060% last Tuesday and the 10-year JGB yield is expected to move between 0.030%

and 0.070% this week against the bank's target of around zero.

     Tuesday: The Ministry of Finance to auction Y2.2 trillion of 5-year bonds.

     Wednesday: BOJ outright purchase operations for JGBs with remaining life of

1-3, 3-5 and 5-10 years expected.

     Thursday: The MOF to auction Y1.0 trillion of 20-year bonds and Y4.4

trillion of three-month Treasury discount bills.

     Friday: BOJ outright purchase operations for JGBs with remaining life of

10-25 and more than 25 years expected.

     CHINA

     The highlights of the week will be the release of key economic data on

Thursday to judge the progress of the economy in the middle month of the fourth

quarter, as well as the Central Economic Work Conference, which will set the

economic and financial policy agenda for next year.

     DATA

     Any day next week, time uncertain: The People's Bank of China will release

data on new bank loans, M2 money supply and total social financing for November.

MNI survey median forecasts: bank loans to rise CNY800 billion, up from CNY663.2

billion in October; Total social financing is predicted to rise to CNY1.29

trillion from CNY1.04 trillion in the previous month; M2 money supply to rise

8.9% year-on-year, up slightly from 8.8% in October.

     Thursday at 10:00 CST (02:00 GMT): The National Bureau of Statistics to

release November retail sales and industrial production data for November as

well as fixed-asset investment data for January-November. MNI survey median

forecasts: Retail sales growth rate is expected to accelerate at 10.3%

year-on-year from a 10.0% in October; Industrial production to grow 6.1% down

from 6.2%; fixed-asset investment will growth 7.2%, slowing from a gain of 7.3%

in the first ten months of the year.

     Any day next week: The annual Chinese government's annual Central Economic

Work Conference will be held. The meeting of top officials will set the economic

and financial policy priorities for 2018, to be formalized by the National

People's Congress next March. President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang will

address the meeting, which will follow themes set by the Politburo Standing

Committee, including discussions of next year's growth target, greater emphasize

of the quality rather than the quantity of economic output, greater risk

prevention in the financial sector, enhancements in poverty alleviation and

stronger pollution controls. The top-level meeting is expected last three days,

with a summary of its recommendations to be released by the official Xinhua News

Agency following its conclusion.

     AUSTRALIA

     The highlight of the week is labor force survey for November to be released

on Thursday. along with business and consumer sentiment surveys.

     Data

     Tuesday 9:30 am AEDT (2230 GMT Monday): ANZ-Roy Morgan's weekly consumer

confidence data to be released.

     Tuesday, 11:30 am AEDT (0030 GMT): National Australia Bank publishes its

business survey for November. Conditions are likely to moderate from the very

elevated +21 level in October while confidence could hover around last month's

+8 level. Of more importance in the survey are indicators related to the retail

sector and employment.

     Tuesday, 11:30 am AEDT (0030 GMT): The Australian Bureau of Statistics

publishes its housing price index for Q3. The index is important but not closely

watched because CoreLogic publishes monthly data. Expectations range from a fall

of 1.2% q/q to a rise of 2.0%.

     Wednesday, 10:30 am AEDT (2330 GMT Tuesday): Westpac Bank to publish its

consumer sentiment survey for December. Last month the index again fell below

100 and indications are that a rebound is less likely given more signs of

cooling in the housing market and signal from RBA that the cash rate is likely

to remain on hold.

     Thursday, 11:00 am AEDT (0000 GMT): The Melbourne Institute publishes

inflation expectations survey for December.

     Thursday, 11:30 am AEDT (0030 GMT): The ABS publishes its labor force

survey. The MNI survey median forecast is for employment to grow 17,000 but the

jobless rate to remain unchanged at 5.4% and participation rate at 65.1%.

     RBA

     Wednesday, 9:15 am AEDT (2215 GMT Tuesday): RBA governor Philip Lowe speaks

at an event in Sydney on the payments system. There will be a question and

answer session.

     Wednesday, 11:00 am AEDT (0000 GMT): RBA assistant governor Christopher

Kent speaks at a finance and banking conference on the topic "The availability

of business finance." There will be a question and answer session.

     NEW ZEALAND

     Data:

     Monday, 10:45 am NZDT (0945 GMT Sunday): StatsNewZealand to release

electronic card transactions for November.

     RBNZ

     No major data or event is due from the RBNZ

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com