The week ahead brings a mix of inflation and trade readings across Asia, closely watched confidence surveys, and a key Bank of Korea rate decision.

The calendar opens Monday with India's inflation print alongside Indonesian retail-sales data.

Tuesday shifts the focus to sentiment, with consumer confidence in Australia and a key quarterly business survey in New Zealand.

Midweek, traders turn to China's trade numbers and South Korea's export and import price data, before attention returns to Seoul on Thursday as the Bank of Korea meets.

The week ends Friday with Malaysia's preliminary fourth-quarter GDP estimate and Singapore's trade figures.

Here's what to watch in the week ahead.

MONDAY, Jan. 12

The week was off to a relatively light start as Indonesia reported its November retail sales and India's December inflation print was due.

Prices in India are expected to grow by 1.50% year-on-year during December--faster than the 0.71% growth seen in the month prior, according to a consensus compiled by Trading Economics.

Despite the quickening of pace, price pressures in India "appear contained" and will likely strengthen the case for the Reserve bank of India to maintain its "accommodative stance" and consider additional rate cuts, economists at ING said.

Meanwhile, retail sales in Indonesia rose 6.3% year-on-year during November, quickening from the 4.3% rise witnessed in the month prior.

TUESDAY, Jan. 13

A consumer confidence report in Australia will give markets an insight into the prevailing sentiment across the country.

After a surprising bounce in November, Westpac said it expects the Westpac-MI consumer sentiment index to have fallen back to the "cautiously pessimistic" levels that prevailed in the months prior.

While still not as poor as the prolonged, deep pessimism witnessed throughout much of 2024, consumer confidence is yet to move into the outright optimism territory, Westpac said in a preview.

A quarterly business survey will serve as the first big economic check-in of the year in New Zealand.

Markets will be on the look out for the NZIER quarterly survey to judge whether the economy can sustain the momentum witnessed during the third quarter, the National Australia Bank said in a note.

The survey could direct opinions on inflation and interest-rate expectations, the note said.

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 14

Trade data from China will dominate headlines on Wednesday.

Analysts expect China's trade surplus to rise marginally to $113.5 billion during December from the $111.68 billion recorded a month prior, according to a consensus compiled by Trading Economics.

Economists at Deutsche Bank expect to see a slowdown in export growth during the month, with shipping activity moderating during the latter half of the period, The Wall Street Journal reported.

ING similarly expects a slowdown in shipments during the month, and said it expected the full-year trade surplus to be near $1.2 trillion when accounting for the December data.

South Korea will report export and import prices for December, while wholesale inflation data will be available from India.

Analysts expect deflationary pressure to dissipate during the month and are forecasting a 0.30% rise in wholesale inflation as compared to the 0.32% drop seen in November, according to a consensus compiled by Trading Economics.

Japan reports its December machine tool orders the same day.

THURSDAY, Jan. 15

The Bank of Korea will meet for its monetary policy decision, with markets expecting the central bank to hold rates at 2.5%.

A weak Korean won, inflation concerns, and housing price pressures mean the Bank of Korea is likely to adopt a cautious approach, ING said in a preview.

"While the overall dovish stance is expected to persist, a K-shaped recovery may pose challenges for the Bank of Korea," the bank said.

South Korea also reports unemployment figures Thursday. According to ING, the figures could show an uptick in unemployment as most government jobs ended in November or December, while recent business surveys suggested stunted job growth in the services and construction sectors.

Markets will also be on the look out for trade data from India to gauge how well the most populous country in the world is faring against tariff tensions and unresolved trade talks with the U.S., the WSJ reported. The country's trade deficit is expected to widen to $30 billion from the $24.53 billion recorded in November, according to Trading Economics.

India also reports its December unemployment figures Thursday.

The Reuters Tankan Index for January, a key gauge of Japanese business confidence, will be due the same day. Japan will also report its producer price index the same day.

FRIDAY, Jan. 16

The week rounds off with Malaysia's preliminary GDP growth estimate for the fourth quarter.

Analysts at ANZ expect the economy to have grown at a marginally higher pace during the quarter: 5.3% versus the 5.2% witnessed in Q3, the WSJ reported.

Singapore will report its December trade figures, including non-oil domestic exports data. Figures should show robust shipments during the month thanks to solid demand for semiconductors and pharmaceuticals, analysts at Barclays said, according to the WSJ.

Also scheduled for the day are December's selected prices in New Zealand. CommBank expects the index to be dominated by "seasonal swings," with food prices and airfares seeing an uptick while rents, which are the largest component of the consumer price index, seeing little to no change.