Sold E7.188bln vs target E6.0bln-E7.2bln

- E3.595bln 3-month BTF, avg yield 0.015% (0.012%), cover 2.29 (2.18)

- E1.798bln 6-month BTF, avg yield 0.050% (0.048%), cover 3.66 (3.23)

- E1.795bln 12-month BTF, avg yield 0.131% (0.145%), cover 2.78 (3.62)

EUR/USD $1.3350, $1.3375, $1.3400

USD/JPY Y93.25, Y94.00

GBP/USD $1.5600

EUR/CHF Chf1.2320

AUD/USD $1.0300, $1.0360, $1.0385

Data
00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) February +0.2% +2.8%
00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) February +2.4% +1.1%
00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) January +2.2% -2.4%
00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) January +17.% +10.8%
09:00 Eurozone Current account, adjusted, bln December 15.9 15.3 13.9

The yen fell against the dollar, while approaching to the maximum value from February 12, after a group of G20 countries to refrain from criticism of Japanese monetary policy, which triggered a sharp and substantial depreciation of the currency. Note that the yen has fallen by 13% against the dollar in the past three months, as Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an increase in costs and increased pressure on the Bank of Japan to raise monetary easing. The data show that the decline of the yen is the largest of the 16 major currencies.
Economists say that now the focus will be on the appointment of the new head of the Bank of Japan, which will replace the current head of Masaaki Shirakawa, who will retire on March 19.
The pound fell against 13 of its 16 major counterparts as futures traders increased bets that the currency will continue to decline. According to the data, the number of positions of hedge funds and other large speculators reduced pound was at 12 February 16 776, compared with the positions to buy at 1174. Also exerted pressure on the currency by the representative of the Bank of England Wil Martin, who noted that exports can benefit from the depreciation of the currency.

EUR / USD: during the European session the pair fell to the low of $ 1.3305, and set the high at $ 1.3378

GBP / USD: during the European session the pair fell to the low of $ 1.5436, but is now trading at $ 1.5477

USD / JPY: during the European session is reduced, and is now trading at Y93.93

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3450/60, $1.3415/25, $1.3400

Bids $1.3320, $1.3300, $1.3290/80, $1.3265/60, $1.3250

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5650, $1.5600/10, $1.5585, $1.5550, $1.5520, $1.5500

Bids $1.5420, $1.5400, $1.5390

AUD/USD

Offers $1.0400, $1.0380/85, $1.0350, $1.0335/40, $1.0310

Bids $1.0275/70, $1.0250, $1.0240/35, $1.0205/00, $1.0180/75, $1.0150

EUR/JPY

Offers Y127.45/50, Y126.95/00, Y126.50, Y126.30, Y125.90/00

Bids Y125.00, Y124.50, Y124.05/00

USD/JPY

Offers Y94.75, Y94.50, Y94.40, Y94.20/30

Bids Y93.70/50, Y93.00, Y92.65/60, Y92.50

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8685/90, stg0.8650

Bids stg0.8575/70, stg0.8545/40, stg0.8520/15

EUR/USD $1.3375, $1.3400, $1.3500

USD/JPY Y92.00, Y92.50, Y92.60, Y92.90, Y93.25, Y94.00

GBP/USD $1.5600

EUR/CHF Chf1.2320

AUD/USD $1.0200, $1.0300, $1.0385

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index near an 18-month high, as Japanese shares rallied after the Group of 20 nations refrained from censuring the nation’s policies that have weakened the yen.

Nikkei 225 11,407.87 +234.04 +2.09%

Hang Seng 23,381.94 -62.62 -0.27%

S&P/ASX 200 5,063.42 +29.50 +0.59%

Shanghai Composite 2,421.56 -10.84 -0.45%

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, rose 1.3 percent as the yen fell, boosting the earnings prospects for Japanese exporters.

Li & Fung Ltd., a supplier of toys and clothes to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., lost 1.4 percent in Hong Kong as internal e-mails showed the U.S. retailer had the worst sales start to a month in seven years as payroll-tax increases hit shoppers.

BlueScope Steel Ltd. surged 15 percent after Australia’s largest steelmaker reported a smaller net loss.

The yen fell against the dollar after an official from the G20 group reported that the latest draft of the statement does not repeat the G7 opinion as to whether that exchange rates should not be the object of politics. Meanwhile, the G20 called on members to avoid competitive devaluations, and stressed that exchange rates should be set by the market. Note that the yen fell by 7.2% this year against the dollar, which was associated with the desire to stimulate economic growth in Japan.

The Canadian dollar fell for the first time in four days against the U.S. dollar after Statistics Canada reported that the volume of supply in the industrial sector fell by -3.1% in December after rising 1.7% in November. Note that this decline was the worst in 43 months. Meanwhile, data showed that sales in manufacturing decreased to 48.02 million Canadian dollars (47.94 million U.S. dollars). Decline in December, according to analysts, primarily due to a decrease of 9.1% in the transport sector, and also in the assembly of cars (15.4%).

Pound shows its greatest weekly decline against the U.S. dollar since June, when the Office for National Statistics said that retail sales fell in January by 0.6%. This happened after a revised fall of 0.3% in December. Office for National Statistics indicated that the volume of retail sales in January was 0.6% lower than it was a year ago, that was the first time since the summer of 2011. Despite the fact that in the second half of the month was heavy snowfall, analysts were optimistic and predicted that the market will recover from disappointing data in December and shows a growth rate of 0.5%.

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) February +0.2% +2.8%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) February +2.4% +1.1%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) January +2.2% -2.4%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) January +17.% +10.8%

The yen fell against the dollar, extending losses that made it the worst-performing major currency in the past three months, after Group-of-20 nations refrained from censuring Japanese policies driving the decline. Two days of talks between G-20 finance ministers and central bankers ended in Moscow Feb. 16 with a statement pledging not to “target our exchange rates for competitive purposes,” without singling out Japan.

The pound slid toward a seven-month low on prospects the Bank of England will tolerate higher inflation. The Bank of England will release minutes of this month’s policy meeting on Feb. 20. The central bank left the target of its bond purchases unchanged on Feb. 7, saying inflation is likely to accelerate further in the near term and may stay above the BOE’s 2 percent target for the next two years.

The euro declined for a fourth day against the dollar ahead of Italy’s parliamentary election on Feb. 24-25. Silvio Berlusconi kicks off the week with a rally today in Milan. Berlusconi had 27.8 percent support in an SWG Institute survey published Feb. 8, compared with 33.8 percent for Pier Luigi Bersani, Berlusconi’s main rival.

EUR/USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $1.3325.

GBP/USD: during the Asian session the pair fell to $1.5470.

USD/JPY: during the Asian session, the pair rose to Y94.20.

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (MoM) February +0.2%

00:01 United Kingdom Rightmove House Price Index (YoY) February +2.4%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (MoM) January +2.2%

00:30 Australia New Motor Vehicle Sales (YoY) January +17.%

09:00 Eurozone Current account, adjusted, bln December 14.8 15.3

13:30 U.S. Bank holiday February

13:30 Canada Bank holiday February