The euro exchange rate has weakened considerably against most major currencies on speculation that the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate to a record low next week, thus supporting the region's economy. Note that analysts began to predict a decline in May, after the data on the activities of the areas of production and services in April pointed to the weakness of economic growth. Officials of the Monetary Policy Committee of the European Central Bank have also indicated that they may consider lowering rates at the conference, which will take place on May 2. The President Mario Draghi said back on April 19, he did not see any improvement on economic data, hinting that it could reduce the cost of borrowing, if the recovery falters housekeeper.

Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen said the rates may be reduced if the data show that the need arise, and his colleague Vitor Constancio said yesterday that the ECB is "ready to act." Add that Nomura economists now suggests that the ECB will reduce the 2 May its key rate to 0.5 percent from 0.75, while the previously forecasted decline in June. JPMorgan also changed their forecasts, and financial institutions such as Commerzbank AG, UBS, RBS, Rabobank International and ABN AMRO Bank NV also predict a decrease in rates in May.

The British pound rose significantly, aided by the British publication of the data. Note that today's report on UK GDP for Q1 showed that the UK economy managed to avoid the dreaded "triple" recession, while showing a growth rate of 0.3%, which was above the average analyst forecast of 0.1%. The reason for the unexpected growth of the economy was the services sector, which expanded at a 0.6%, while the strongest sectors were transport and communications (1.4%), which is completely at odds with reports that bad weather had violated distribution channels. We add that the Bank of England is now in a more comfortable situation at the persistence of the current monetary policy at its next meeting in two weeks, but the markets have already received a hint that this might happen, after yesterday's announcement about the growth of the program funding banking sector has pointed out that the Bank of England will delay the expansion of quantitative easing and direct its resources on targeted policies aimed at expanding credit channels.

The Japanese yen rose against the dollar. Note that a new wave of rising yen threatened the mark of 99.00. In the light of future events in Japan - the inflation report and the meeting of the Central Bank, analysts note that the data will point to the problem faced by the Bank of Japan announced at the meeting that tomorrow. It is unlikely that the Central Bank will be decided on the new measures, but the monetary authorities can update their inflation forecasts. It should be taken as a signal. In anticipation of the success of its program, the Bank of Japan may raise its forecast for the 2014 fiscal year to 1.5%, while expectations for 2015 could rise to 2%.

The Canadian dollar reached its highest level in more than a week against the U.S. dollar after data showed that the UK economy could avoid a reduction in the first quarter, sparking interest in riskier assets. Currency also strengthened against most of its major against the fact that the U.S. Labor Department reported that the number of Americans who first applied for unemployment benefits fell last week to near five-year low, which is a sign that employers are seeing increased demand may increase the number of employment. According to the report, for the week ended April 20, the number of initial claims for unemployment benefits fell to a seasonally adjusted 16,000, reaching 339,000 at the same level. Note that this was the lowest level since early March, and the second lowest since January 2008. According to the average forecasts of experts, the value of this index was to remain unchanged at 352 thousand, which was originally reported in the previous review. Also worth noting is that the value for the previous week was revised upward to the level of 355 thousand Moreover, the data showed that the average number of initial claims for the past four weeks fell by 4,500 to 357,500. Economists note that the submitted report is a sign that the labor market is steadily, albeit slowly progressing. As a general rule, reducing the amount of benefits means that employers cut fewer number of workers, and possibly hire more.

European stocks advanced for a fifth day, their longest rally this year, as data showed the U.K. avoided a triple-dip recession and as companies including British American Tobacco Plc (BATS) reported results.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.8 percent to 296.88 at the close, its highest price since April 2. The measure has rallied 4.1 percent so far this week as company earnings beat forecasts and investors speculated the European Central Bank will cut interest rates.

National benchmark indexes advanced in 13 of the 18 western European markets.

FTSE 100 6,442.59 +10.83 +0.17% CAC 40 3,840.47 -2.47 -0.06% DAX 7,832.86 +73.83 +0.95%

Britain avoided a triple-dip recession as the economy expanded more than forecast. Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the first quarter after contracting 0.3 percent in the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said. The median estimate of economists had called for a 0.1 percent gain.

BAT climbed 1.2 percent to 3,591 pence. Europe's largest cigarette maker said first-quarter sales excluding currency swings rose 5 percent. That beat the 3.7 percent average estimate of analysts.

Vodafone added 1.7 percent to 196.4 pence after Reuters reported that Verizon has hired advisers to prepare a possible $100 billion cash-and-stock offer to buy out Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless. Brenda Raney, a spokeswoman for Verizon Wireless, declined to comment.

Nobel Biocare (NOBN) Holding AG jumped 13 percent to 10.70 Swiss francs, its largest increase since October 2011. The world's second-biggest maker of dental implants posted first-quarter net income of 13.3 million euros, exceeding the 11.7 million euros projected by analysts.

Elementis Plc rose 5.9 percent to 261.9 pence, for the biggest increase since February, as the company said sales of specialty products grew 7 percent in the first quarter.

Unilever fell 3 percent to 2,760 pence in London after the world's second-biggest consumer-goods company reported the slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years. So-called underlying sales, which exclude acquisitions, disposals and currency swings, rose 4.9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier. The median analyst estimate had projected a gain of 5.5 percent.

Oil prices rose, with rising above the level of $ 102 per barrel, which was backed up by an early weakening the dollar, while the discount for U.S. crude oil, Brent crude fell below $ 10, the first time since June 2012. Economists note that U.S. crude futures were trading at a discount to Brent wide due to a large supply of stores in key Cushing (Oklahoma). But the pipeline is now taking more oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast, easing the supply pressure at Cushing. Meanwhile, experts have pointed out that the weak dollar makes commodities evaluation in dollars more affordable for buyers using other currencies. However, they say little doubt returning to the market after the price increase late Wednesday that followed a weekly report on U.S. crude stocks. Also on the dynamics of trade have influenced the data, which were published today by the Bank of Korea, and showed that the South Korean economy has grown substantially in the first quarter, while showing the most rapid expansion over the past two years, despite the continued depreciation of the Japanese yen, which hurts the export sector of the country. According to the report, the seasonally adjusted gross domestic product grew in the first quarter to 0.9 percent, which is significantly higher than the increase of 0.3 percent, which was recorded in the fourth quarter of 2012. Note that such a significant increase was slightly above the average forecast of experts at the level of 0.7 percent expansion. In addition, it was reported that it was the fastest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2011, when GDP expanded by 1.3 percent.

Analysts and traders said the technical picture remains "bearish", pointing to weak growth in global demand and abundant supplies from the North Sea, the Middle East and North Africa.

The cost of the June futures on U.S. light crude oil WTI (Light Sweet Crude Oil) rose to 92.07 dollars per barrel, the lowest intraday level since Dec. 19.

June futures price for North Sea Brent crude oil mixture rose $ 0.62 to $ 102.47 a barrel on the London exchange ICE Futures Europe.

Gold prices rose today, having risen by almost 2 percent to its highest level in the past 10 days, helped by the earlier weakening of the dollar, stable prices of other commodities and the continued demand for physical metal, which podderivaet market for more than a week. Traders also received support from the central bank, after data from the International Monetary Fund showed that Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey have continued to increase their reserves in the last month. Meanwhile, it was reported that Turkey imported 18.5 thousand tons in the first three weeks of April. But the daily outflow of exchange-traded funds showed no signs of abating, suggesting that investor confidence is unlikely to be restored soon after last week's sell-off occurred. Note that the gold reserves in the SPDR Gold Trust fell by 0.38% on Wednesday from Tuesday, its lowest level since late 2009.

Analysts also say that higher prices contributed to short-covering, which occurs when traders are forced to buy assets that they would agree to sell in the future expectations of falling prices. Meanwhile, they add that a weak dollar can help, but the historical inverse correlation between the currency and gold has been mixed in the past few days. It is also worth noting that the newly presented a positive report on the number of initial claims for unemployment insurance have raised hopes that the Fed will keep its bond-buying program by 2014, which will act in favor of gold.

Recall that earlier this month, gold has come under pressure after the European Central Bank and the IMF has asked Cyprus to sell stocks worth about 400 million euros ($ 523 million) in a deal to save what caused speculation that the other indebted euro zone countries could follow suit.

The cost of the June gold futures on COMEX today rose to 1454.00 dollars per ounce.

EUR/USD $1.3000, $1.3010

USD/JPY Y98.50, Y99.00, Y99.60, Y100.00

EUR/JPY Y130.00

GBP/USD $1.5400, $1.5450

EUR/GBP stg0.8500, stg0.8560, stg0.8620

AUD/USD $1.0200

AUD/NZD N$1.2100

U.S. stock futures rose as investors are waiting that central banks are going to stay easy with their monetary policy, if not ease even further given the weak data points of late.

Global Stocks:

Nikkei 13,926.08 +82.62 +0.60%

Hang Seng 22,401.24 +218.19 +0.98%

Shanghai Composite 2,199.31 -19.01 -0.86%

FTSE 6,431.05 -0.71 -0.01%

CAC 3,832.02 -10.92 -0.28%

DAX 7,783.52 +24.49 +0.32%

Crude oil $91.52 +0.10%

Gold $1449.60 +1.82%

Upgrades:

Procter & Gamble (PG) upgraded from Neutral to Buy at Sun Trust Rbsn Humphrey

Downgrades:

Procter & Gamble (PG) downgraded from Buy to Neutral at B. Riley & Co., target lowered from $87 to $85

Other:

Data

00:00 Australia Bank holiday

00:00 New Zealand Bank holiday

08:30 United Kingdom GDP, q/q (Preliminary) Quarter I -0.3% +0.1% +0.3%

08:30 United Kingdom GDP, y/y (Preliminary) Quarter I +0.2% +0.4% +0.6%

The euro rose against the dollar, as the desire for risk in the markets stimulates the growth of the pair with the absence of the key drivers in the eurozone. Note that the dynamics of the trade is also affected by the fact that many market participants are waiting for a weekly report on the U.S. labor market, although it is unlikely to have a significant impact on the markets. In addition, we note that today German Chancellor Merkel expressed the desire that the holders of bank shares also took some of the responsibility for the future, and said that as long as the government does not approve of the general deposit insurance system. She also said that the rate increase would help Germany. The head of the Supreme Committee of Finland said that the euro will survive if Cyprus will leave the euro zone, and also rejected the chance of introducing rules of financial transactions in the euro area. The IMF Lipton and head of PIMCO suggested that the ECB may continue to soften policy.

The British pound rose significantly, aided by the British publication of the data. Note that today's report on UK GDP for Q1 showed that the UK economy managed to avoid the dreaded "triple" recession, while showing a growth rate of 0.3%, which was above the average analyst forecast of 0.1%. The reason for the unexpected growth of the economy was the services sector, which expanded at a 0.6%, while the strongest sectors were transport and communications (1.4%), which is completely at odds with reports that bad weather had violated distribution channels. We add that the Bank of England is now in a more comfortable situation at the persistence of the current monetary policy at its next meeting in two weeks, but the markets have already received a hint that this might happen, after yesterday's announcement about the growth of the program funding banking sector has pointed out that the Bank of England will delay the expansion of quantitative easing and direct its resources on targeted policies aimed at expanding credit channels.

The Japanese yen rose against the dollar. Note that a new wave of rising yen threatened the mark of 99.00. In the light of future events in Japan - the inflation report and the meeting of the Central Bank, analysts note that the data will point to the problem faced by the Bank of Japan announced at the meeting that tomorrow. It is unlikely that the Central Bank will be decided on the new measures, but the monetary authorities can update their inflation forecasts. It should be taken as a signal. In anticipation of the success of its program, the Bank of Japan may raise its forecast for the 2014 fiscal year to 1.5%, while expectations for 2015 could rise to 2%.

EUR / USD: during the European session, the pair rose to $ 1.3090

GBP / USD: during the European session, the pair rose to $ 1.5474

USD / JPY: during the European session, the pair fell to Y98.95

At 12:30 GMT the United States will number of initial claims for unemployment benefits and the number of continuing claims for unemployment benefits. At 22:45 GMT New Zealand will release the trade balance (for 12 months, from the beginning of the year) and the trade balance for March. At 23:30 GMT Japan will report on the consumer price index Tokyo, including excluding prices for fresh food, food and energy prices in April, as well as the consumer price index, including excluding prices for fresh food, food and energy in March.

EUR/USD

Offers $1.3170/80, $1.3150, $1.3115/30, $1.3100, $1.3080/85

Bids $1.3000, $1.2985/75, $1.2950/40

GBP/USD

Offers $1.5510/20, $1.5490/500, $1.5470/75, $1.5450

Bids $1.5410/00, $1.5380, $1.5365/60, $1.5320

AUD/USD

Offers $1.0395/00, $1.0380, $1.0355/60, $1.0345/50

Bids $1.0275/70, $1.0250, $1.0220/10, $1.0200, $1.0185/80

EUR/GBP

Offers stg0.8630/40, stg0.8610/15, stg0.8600, stg0.8580/85, stg0.8530/35

Bids stg0.8450

EUR/JPY

Offers Y131.00, Y130.45/50, Y130.20/25, Y130.00

Bids Y129.00, Y128.85/80, Y128.50, Y128.00

USD/JPY

Offers Y100.00, Y99.55/60, Y99.50

Bids Y99.00, Y98.50

EUR/USD $1.3000, $1.3010

USD/JPY Y98.50, Y99.00, Y99.60, Y100.00

EUR/JPY Y130.00

GBP/USD $1.5400, $1.5450

EUR/GBP stg0.8500, stg0.8560, stg0.8620

AUD/USD $1.0200

AUD/NZD N$1.2100

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index touching the highest intraday level since May 2011, as investors weighed earnings reports and energy shares led gains.

Nikkei 225 13,926.08 +82.62 +0.60%

S&P/ASX 200 Closed

Shanghai Composite 2,199.31 -19.01 -0.86%

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., the nation's largest refiner, increased 2.2 percent after Morgan Stanley said China's cut in fuel prices will benefit the company.

Nippon Electric Glass. Co. led gains among Japanese glass makers after industry bellwether Corning Inc. forecast growth.

Nintendo Co., the world's biggest maker of game machines, slumped 5.9 percent in Osaka after missing sales targets for its consoles.

00:00 Australia Bank holiday

00:00 New Zealand Bank holiday

The pound rose against all but one of its 16 most-traded counterparts before a report forecast to show the U.K economy avoided a triple-dip recession. The U.K. economy grew 0.1 percent in the first quarter after contracting 0.3 percent in the preceding three-month period, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey before the figure is released today.

The pound gained for a fourth day against the euro amid growing expectations the European Central Bank will cut borrowing costs as early as next week, while Bank of England policy makers remain split on the need to provide more economic stimulus through so-called quantitative easing. The ECB will cut its key interest rate, already at a record low 0.75 percent, at its May 2 meeting as the euro-region economy slumps, banks including Nomura International Plc, UBS AG (UBSN) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc (RBS) predict.

Spain's unemployment rate probably reached a record high of 26.5 percent in the first quarter, according to the median estimate in a separate Bloomberg survey ahead of the report today. It was an unprecedented 26 percent in the fourth quarter.

The yen fell against most peers after a report showed Japanese investors were net sellers of foreign bonds for a sixth-straight week. Japanese investors sold a net 862.6 billion yen ($8.7 billion) in overseas bonds and notes and sold 45.2 billion yen in overseas short-term securities during the week ended April 19, the Ministry of Finance announced today.

New Zealand's kiwi dollar climbed. Financial markets in Australia and New Zealand are closed today for national holidays.

EUR / USD: during the Asian session the pair rose to $ 1.3060

GBP / USD: during the Asian session the pair rose to $ 1.5335.

USD / JPY: during the Asian session the pair fell to Y99.30.

A light EZ data calendar today, though several speakers could provide headline risk. Recent German PMI and Ifo data now has market on ECB rate cut alert for next Thursday and will be noting any comment from officials ahead of this event. However, focus today will be on the first reading of UK Q1 GDP

Change % Change Last

GOLD 1,429.60 20.80 1.48%

OIL (WTI) 91.55 2.37 2.66%

Change % Change Last

Nikkei 225 13,843.46 +313.81 +2.32%

S&P/ASX 200 5,102.4 +86.17 +1.72%

Shanghai Composite 2,217.56 +33.02 +1.51%

FTSE 100 6,431.76 +25.64 +0.40%

CAC 40 3,842.94 +59.89 +1.58%

DAX 7,759.03 +100.82 +1.32%

Dow -43.47 14,675.99 -0.30%

Nasdaq +0.32 3,269.65 +0.01%

S&P 0 1,578.78 0.00%

(pare/closed(00:00 GMT +02:00)/change, %)

EUR/USD $1,3012 +0,07%

GBP/USD $1,5264 +0,19%

USD/CHF Chf0,9472 +0,21%

USD/JPY Y99,51 +0,11%

EUR/JPY Y129,50 +0,22%

GBP/JPY Y151,91 +0,34%

AUD/USD $1,0279 +0,09%

NZD/USD $0,8476 +0,51%

00:00 Australia Bank holiday

00:00 New Zealand Bank holiday

08:30 United Kingdom GDP, q/q (Preliminary) Quarter I -0.3% +0.1%

08:30 United Kingdom GDP, y/y (Preliminary) Quarter I +0.2% +0.4%

12:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims April 352 352

14:00 U.S. Treasury Sec Lew Speaks

22:45 New Zealand Trade Balance, mln March 414 472

23:30 Japan Tokyo Consumer Price Index, y/y April -1.0% -0.8%

23:30 Japan Tokyo CPI ex Fresh Food, y/y April -0.5% -0.4%

23:30 Japan National Consumer Price Index, y/y March -0.7% -0.8%

23:30 Japan National CPI Ex-Fresh Food, y/y March -0.3% -0.4%