Retail sales for January is out at the same time on a separate post (a big miss)

January industrial production (preliminary):

-6.6% m/m (first drop m/m in 4 months) and ditto on the big miss

  • expected is -4.0%, prior was +2.9%

+2.7% y/y

  • expected +5.3%, prior was +4.4%

Outlooks:

Japanese manufacturers see February output +9.0% m/m

  • previous forecast: +5.7%

And see March output at -2.7% m/m

As I posted earlier ... While global demand has remained firm, yen appreciation may be a factor in the decline expected (a higher yen erodes Japanese exporter competitiveness)

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ps. As posted in the preview:

  • production plans project an increase for February, and since January production plans do not call for a wide-ranging decline in production in the manufacturing sector as a whole, we think the decline in production in January will be a one-off phenomenon. As such, even if there is a sharp fall in production in January, we do not think it would warrant special attention.

(via Nomura, bolding mine)

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And ....yet to come in Japan today ...

0110 GMT - Bank of Japan JGB purchases

  • 1-3, 3-5, 10-25, 25+ years the target in today's scheduled operation