American focus : dollar weakened

Тhe euro retreated from lows against the U.S. dollar on the back of weak reports on the U.S. housing market . Housing Starts fell sharply last month , a sign of "cooling" in the housing market in the United States . Decline was mainly associated with abnormally cold weather in large parts of the country.

The report of the Ministry of Commerce said that in January, housing starts fell by 16% to a seasonally adjusted , while reaching 880 thousand units. We also add that the figure for December was revised upward to reach 1.048 million units. At the head of the January decline were single-family housing bookmarks , which decreased by 15.9 % - up to 573 thousand in annual terms . Meanwhile, the number of building permits , which is an indicator of future construction , fell 5.4% to a seasonally adjusted - up to 937 thousand , compared to a revised figure for December at the level of 991 thousand units.

Economists forecast that housing starts dropped to 943 thousand , and the number of building permits decreased to 973 thousand

Pound previously fell against the U.S. dollar , which was a reaction to the British report . Data that has been submitted by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK labor market continued to strengthen in recent months in 2013 , in favor of which said revenue growth and decline in the number of applications for unemployment benefits. However, it was observed an unexpected rise in the unemployment rate in the three months to December compared with the previous three-month period that serves as a reminder that the economic recovery is not as strong or balanced , says the Bank of England .

According to the report , the unemployment rate rose to 7.2 % in the three months to December , compared with 7.1% in the previous three months to November. However , the latter result was significantly less than 7.6% in the third quarter . It was also reported that the number of unemployed fell by 125,000 over the last three months of 2013. Increasing unemployment surprised economists , as they expected that this figure will remain the same .

Average growth of regular income , except for bonuses , in the three months to December rose by 1.0 % compared with 0.9 % in the previous three-month period , recording the largest increase since June last year . Moreover , it became known that the level of unemployment claims for employment fell in January to reach 3.6% from 3.7 % in December , showing the 15th consecutive monthly decline and reached its lowest level since December 2008.

The yen rose against the dollar before the U.S. , which was associated with the release of the monthly report of the Bank of Japan . It was said that the Japanese economy will continue to recover at a moderate pace in the near future , with the support of the further improvement of industrial production and foreign demand. The Bank of Japan, however, warned that economic growth will depend on the increase and subsequent decrease in demand before and after the increase in the consumption tax , which will be introduced in April this year. Adverse events in emerging markets, the European debt crisis and the pace of the U.S. economic recovery also pose risks to economic growth in Japan , reported in the monthly report .

Exports are expected to increase slightly , mainly to a recovery in overseas economies , says the Bank of Japan . At the same time , industrial production will continue to grow , albeit at a moderate pace, on a background of stability and strength of private consumption, investments in the housing market.