Asia day ahead: taking the temperature of hot spots
Bareksa • 14 Apr 2014
Inflation data from India and private home sales in Singapore will shed light on efforts to cool segments of both economies, while North Koreans remember the state's founding father. - (Reuters/Sareena Dayaram)
Economists are expecting both producer and consumer price growth to pick up
Reuters - Economic indicators top the agenda Tuesday. First to India where investors will be watching the latest inflation figures as voters hit the polls in the world's biggest elections. Economists are expecting both producer and consumer price growth to pick up despite the efforts of celebrated central bank chief, Raghuram Rajan. Inflation is a hot issue in India and one of the reasons the ruling Congress Party looks likely to lose office in May. Also on the investor radar is one of the hottest property markets in the world, Singapore, where we'll get private home sales data for March. The Lion City has been on a market-cooling mission since 2009 to curb speculation and runaway prices. These efforts seem to be bearing fruit as home prices dropped for the first time in nearly two years in the fourth quarter. It's party time in Pyongyang. North Koreans will be celebrating what would be the 102nd birthday of the country's revered founder, Kim Il Sung. He's the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong-un. The celebrations are usually used to give the Kim dynasty a boost and to promote its military-first doctrine, with parades of defense hardware among the festivities.The occasion comes as tensions over North Korea's nuclear program continue.