Morning Market Update – Dollar Under More Pressure, BoJ Keeps Policy Steady

Asian Markets

Statistics New Zealand said that the Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) came at 0.4% and went below expectations (0.7%) in the fourth quarter following an increase of 0.8 percent in the September 2016 quarter. New Zealand’s Gross Domestic Product (YoY) came at 2.7% and went below expectations (3.1%) in fourth quarter. The manufacturing sector fell by 1.6% due to lower exports of dairy products.

Australia’s Consumer Inflation Expectation dropped down from a previous value of 4.1% to 4% this month. South Australia’s Unemployment Rate went up above expectations (5.7%) in February: Actual (5.9%), Australia’s Fulltime employment rose up to 27.1K in February from a previous negative of 44.8K and Australia’s Participation Rate was in line with the forecasted values (64.6%) in February.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the Yuan reference rate at 6.8862 this Thursday morning, compared to Wednesday’s fix of 6.9115. The US President Donald Trump said the decision to block the travel ban by US District judge in Hawaii is a part of “unprecedented judicial overreach.” As expected, the BOJ left its monetary policy settings without any further changes. We should look out for the BOJ Governor Kuroda’s press conference today for announcements on bank policies.

Other Markets

Moving from the BoJ’s rate decision, we look forward for the Swiss National Bank’s monetary policy as they are bound to keep the rates at -0.75% in line with the monetary policy. All eyes are set on the BoE’s Interest Rate Decision. The BoE plans to make the economy stronger with the forecasted values at 435B. Any upgrade in the interest rates should see a spike in the pounds.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates and the Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen clarified that she does not see any further growth or inflation or employment opportunities. Also, she reassured investors that the central bank’s interest rate hike wasn’t a happy policy and triggered many fears amongst people in the country.

The central bank officials including Janet Yellen felt that the bank’s interest rate increase was imminent. The Dollar is under more pressure with building permits showing a negative value of 1.26M than the previous month’s value at 1.293M, causing volatility to the USD. The Initial Jobless Claims released by the US Department of Labor are looking better than the previous month’s value at 243k and are forecasted at a value of 240k.
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