Foreign exchange market. Asian session: U.S. dollar traded lower against its major peers

(Time/ Region/ Event/ Period/ Previous/ Forecast/ Actual

00:00 New Zealand ANZ Business Confidence February 30.4 40.9

00:05 United Kingdom Gfk Consumer Confidence February 1 3 1

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, m/m January +0.5% +0.5% +0.6%

00:30 Australia Private Sector Credit, y/y January +5.9% +6.2%

05:00 Japan Housing Starts, y/y January -14.7% -11.1% -13.0%

07:45 France Consumer spending January +1.5% -0.3% -0.9%

07:45 France Consumer spending, y/y January +0.5% +0.6%

08:00 Switzerland KOF Leading Indicator February 97.0 89.1 90.1

The U.S. dollar traded lower against its major peers after the mixed U.S. economic data yesterday. U.S. consumer price inflation fell 0.7% in January, missing expectations for a 0.6% decrease, after a 0.4% decline in December. That was largest decline since December 2008. On a yearly basis, the U.S. consumer price index fell to -0.1% in January from 0.8% in December. That was the lowest level since October 2009.

The U.S. durable goods orders rose 2.8% in January, exceeding expectations for a 1.7% increase, after a 3.7% decline in December. December's figure was revised down from a 3.3% decrease.

The number of initial jobless claims in the week ending February 21 in the U.S. climbed by 31,000 to 313,000 from 282,000 in the previous week, missing expectations for a rise by 3,000. The previous week's figure was revised up from 283,000.

The euro recovered moderately from yesterday's slump hitting a monthly-low yesterday.

The Australian dollar recovered from yesterday's slump and added gains versus the U.S. dollar. Private Sector Credit rose by +0.6% on a monthly basis in January, above estimates and a previous reading of +0.5%. Year on year Private Sector Credit rose +6.2% compared to +5.9%.

New Zealand's dollar rose against the greenback. The ANZ Business Confidence Index rose from 30.4 to 40.9 in February.

The Japanese yen traded higher against the greenback on Friday despite mostly disappointing Japanese economic reports as yesterday's U.S. data continued to weigh on the greenback. The Japanese Unemployment Rate for January rose to 3.6% from 3.4% in the previous month. Household spending decreases above estimates of -4.0% by -5.1%. The National Consumer Price index remained unchanged at +2.4%. Retail Sales declined by -2.0%, far more than the estimated -1.1%. Preliminary Industrial Production for January rose by +4.0% month on month, beating estimates of +3.1%. Year on year Industrial Production declined by -2.6%.

EUR/USD: the euro traded higher against the greenback

(time / country / index / period / previous value / forecast)

13:00 Germany CPI, m/m (Preliminary) February -1.1% +0.6%

13:00 Germany CPI, y/y (Finally) February -0.4%

13:30 U.S. PCE price index, q/q Quarter IV +4.3%

13:30 U.S. PCE price index ex food, energy, q/q Quarter IV +1.1%

13:30 U.S. GDP, q/q (Revised) Quarter IV +2.6% +2.1%

14:45 U.S. Chicago Purchasing Managers' Index February 59.4 58.4

15:00 U.S. Pending Home Sales (MoM) January -3.7% +2.5%

15:00 U.S. Reuters/Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index (Finally) February 98.1 94.2