| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:30 | Australia | National Australia Bank's Business Confidence | March | -4 | -66 | |
| 03:00 | China | Trade Balance, bln | March | -7.09 | 18.55 | 19.9 |
During today's Asian trading, the US dollar fell against the euro and yen, and the chinese yuan strengthened against the US currency after the publication of stronger-than-expected data on China's foreign trade for March.
The ICE index, which tracks the dollar's performance against six currencies (the euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona), fell 0.09% in trading.
The focus of traders ' attention remains the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken by authorities around the world to limit its spread, as well as to support the economy.
Investors fear that the return of the global economy to growth after the lifting of restrictions will be long and painful.
While in Europe, the growth of the disease is beginning to slow down, in the United States, the peak of the epidemic has not yet been reached.
March data from the General customs administration indicated a less significant than expected reduction in both exports and imports. This suggests that the fall in China's GDP in the first quarter will be less significant than expected.
Thus, exports in dollar terms decreased by 6.6% compared to the same month of the previous year, imports - by 0.9%. In January-February, the volume of Chinese exports fell by 17.2%, and imports-by 4%. Experts on average predicted a 14% drop in exports in March and a 9.5% drop in imports.