07:15 Switzerland Industrial Production (QoQ) Quarter IV +7.9% -2.4%
07:15 Switzerland Industrial Production (YoY) Quarter IV +2.2% +1.7%
08:30 Eurozone Sentix Investor Confidence April -10.6 -12.6 -17.3
10:00 Germany Industrial Production s.a. (MoM) February -0.6% +0.4% +0.5%
10:00 Germany Industrial Production (YoY) February -2.6% -0.9% -1.8%
The yen weakened beyond 99 per dollar for the first time since May 2009 on speculation Bank of Japan measures to fight deflation announced last week will further debase the currency. The yen dropped against all its 16 major counterparts for a third day after BOJ officials said last week they will boost monthly bond purchases to 7.5 trillion yen ($76 billion), exceeding the 5.2 trillion yen forecast by economists. The BOJ on April 4 also suspended a cap on some bond holdings and dropped a limit on debt maturities. Policy makers set a two-year horizon for their goal of 2 percent inflation. The central bank’s next policy meeting is on April 26.
The yen pared declines earlier today after the Finance Ministry said Japan’s current-account surplus, the widest measure of trade, was larger than economists forecast.
The surplus was 637.4 billion yen in February compared with the median economist estimate of 457.5 billion yen in a survey. The current account was in deficit for three months through January
The dollar declined for a fourth day versus the euro before Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks today. Demand for the dollar was limited before Bernanke speaks at the Fed Bank of Atlanta 2013 Financial Markets Conference today. The U.S. central bank’s next policy meeting is April 30-May 1. The Fed is buying $85 billion of bonds a month in the third round of its quantitative-easing strategy to spur the economy. While policy makers reiterated after their March meeting the U.S. central bank will maintain its purchases until there’s significant improvement in the labor market, Bernanke told reporters the pace may be altered if warranted by a healing economy.
EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair dropped to $ 1.2968, after which rose to $ 1.3037
GBP / USD: during the European session, the pair fell to $ 1.5292
USD / JPY: during the European session, the pair rose to Y99.00
At 14:30 GMT will be released in Canada indicator of expectations in the area of credit and financial institutions, according to the Bank of Canada, and an indicator of expected growth in trade (Review of sentiment in the business environment of the Bank of Canada) for the 1st quarter. At 23:00 GMT New Zealand will publish a sentiment indicator of the business environment of the NZIER Q1. At 23:01 GMT UK launch in March. 23:15 In a speech Fed chairman Ben Bernanke. At 23:50 GMT the meeting minutes will be published on the Bank of Japan's monetary policy.