Here Are The Key Market Moving Events For Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Eric Platt

Samuel Aranda/Getty Images

A woman works on the production line of hat manufacturer ISESA's factory in Salteras, Spain. The country will release a reading of industrial output on Wednesday.

Wednesday is a relatively light day, with a large focus on Asia and the Pacific with key readings from Japan and Australia. In the U.S., markets will be looking for commentary in the Federal Reserve's Beige Book on regional economic performance. 

Here's what you need to know.

• The U.K. starts things off at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening with a report from the British Retail Consortium on like-for-like sales. Economists forecast a flat reading, against a 0.3 percent decline last month. 
• A reading of Japanese machine orders follows at 7:50 p.m., with expectations for a 0.8 percent drop in February.
• At 9:30 p.m. the pace of Australian home loans will be released. Mortgages are expected to fall 4.0 percent month-on-month in February.
• Attention turns back to Japan at 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning when the Bank of Japan releases its monthly economic report. 
• Spanish industrial output hits at 3:00 a.m., which last declined 4.2 percent year-on-year. There is no consensus for the February report.
• Portuguese construction work follows at 6:00 a.m., with the index last registering at 63.4. There is no consensus for the February report. 
• Canada will announce March housing starts at 8:15 a.m. Consensus is for the pace to fall slightly to 200,000 from 201,100 last month. .
• Attention shifts to the U.S. at 8:30 a.m., with a reading of import prices. Economists predict prices increased 0.9 percent in March.
• Mexican industrial production is scheduled for release at 9:00 a.m. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg project production increased 0.5 percent month-on-month in February.
• Closing out the day at 2:00 p.m. is the release of the Federal Reserve's Beige Book.