Japan’s (advance, or preliminary) GDP report is expected to show contraction for the economy in Q1 of 2024.

• expected to show spending by consumers and firms fell,
• net exports are expected have dragged on growth for the first time in 12 months
• auto production was a drag in the quarter, with the production halt at Daihatsu (a subsidiary of Toyota), this was a weight on weighed on auto sales, exports and business capex

Australian Labour market data for April is due. In March employment unexpectedly fell, and the jobless rate rose. A dip in participation rate kept the unemployment rate increases subdued. A bounce back in jobs is expected to show in the April data today, but a higher unemployment rate is also the consensus tip. Muddying the waters with this release today is that the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted their annual review of seasonal and trend adjustments for these figures. I’ll leave that top the PhDs to figure out.