Economic calendar (GMT0):

Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual

00:00 Australia Consumer Inflation Expectation February 3.6% 3.6%

Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen was neither too hawkish nor too dovish speaking to the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. Yellen noted weakness in financial conditions, but left the door open for a rate hike this year. She added that low oil prices weighed on inflation, which is expected to remain low in the near future. Yellen also said that strong U.S. dollar will increase exports from advanced economies allowing central banks of Europe and Japan to tighten monetary policy sooner.

The yen continued its rally against the greenback amid strong demand for safe-haven assets. Weaker stocks support the yen.

The New Zealand dollar rose at the beginning of the session after data showed that manufacturing activity rose to a fifteen-month high. The BNZ-BusinessNZ performance of manufacturing index rose to a seasonally adjusted 57.9 in January from 57.0 in December. Three sub-indices out of five rose. The production sub-index advanced to a fourteen-month high of 60.3, up from December's 57.1.

EUR/USD: the pair fluctuated within $1.1375-20 in Asian trade

USD/JPY: the pair fell to Y112.15

GBP/USD: the pair traded within $1.4520-60

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

(time / country / index / period / previous value / forecast)

08:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index (MoM) January -0.4% -0.4%

08:15 Switzerland Consumer Price Index (YoY) January -1.3% -1.3%

13:30 Canada New Housing Price Index, MoM December 0.2% 0.2%

13:30 U.S. Continuing Jobless Claims January 2255 2250

13:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims February 285 281

15:00 U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Testifies

22:30 Australia RBA's Governor Glenn Stevens Speech