BoJ Mintes On Tap For Wednesday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Japan will on Wednesday release the minutes from its Dec. 17-18 monetary policy meeting, highlighting a light day for Asia-Pacific economic activity.

At the meeting, the BoJ raised its benchmark rate by a quarter-point as inflation remains stubbornly above the target. The policy board decided to hike the uncollateralized overnight call rate to around 0.75 percent from around 0.5 percent. Previously, the BoJ had lifted the benchmark rate by 25 basis points in January.

Australia will see Q4 numbers for consumer prices; in the previous three months, overall inflation was up 1.3 percent on quarter and 3.0 percent on year, while the trimmed mean was up 1.0 percent on quarter and 3.0 percent on year.