Reuters
Marketmind: China GDP, Japan CPI the guiding lights
Financial market activity in Asia on Monday will be lighter than usual with U.S. markets closed for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, but there is a decent sprinkling of local economic and political developments for investors to get their teeth into. Japan releases money supply figures, South Korea and Indonesia publish their latest trade numbers, while Indian wholesale price inflation data are also due out following CPI figures last week that showed price pressures in December were not quite as hot as forecast. On the political front, there may be ripples from the parliamentary and presidential elections in Taiwan on Saturday, in which the ruling, pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party won a third term.