14.03.14

Good morning,

Yesterday’s data from Japan showed that, year on year, Industrial Production is up from 7.1% to 10.3% Release of these figures and the BOJ meeting minutes saw the JPY gain against major pairs. The Bank of Japan released meeting minutes in which they spoke positively about the machinery investment figures, and the employment and income situation in Japan. USDJPY was trading at 101.74 with a high of 101.85 and a low of 101.50 so far

The NIKKEI was trading at 14327.66 down 488.32 points, minus 3.30%

Swiss producer and import price data is to be released this morning, with British Trade Balance figures due to follow just over an hour later. The USDCHF is trading at 0.8734, the lowest level since November 2011. In Vienna yesterday, ECB President Mario Draghi spoke about the deflation risk in the Euro-Zone describing it as ‘quite limited’. GBPUSD was trading at 1.6611

The FTSE100 closed at 6533.40 down 20.38 points or minus 0.31%while the DAX closed at 8939.55 down 78.24 points or minus 0.87%

US Retail Sales figures increased 0.3% last month, while economists had expected only a 0.2 % increase in retail sales following bad winter weather. Markets in the US today are expecting Producer Price Index figures to remain largely unchanged when released. The Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index will follow these PPI figures and any miss of expectations could have an impact on the USD.

The DOW closed at 16108.89 down 231.19 points or minus 1.41%

Hope you all have a good weekend.