Foreign exchange market. Asian session: the Australian dollar dropped to 2-week lows against the U.S. dollar after the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes

Economic calendar (GMT0):

00:00    Australia           Conference Board Australia Leading Index     March   +0.3%                0.0%

01:30    Australia           RBA Meeting's Minutes                                                            

03:15    Australia           RBA Assist Gov Debelle Speaks                                                             

04:30    Japan               All Industry Activity Index, m/m                    March   -1.1%   +1.6%   +1.5%

06:00    Germany           Producer Price Index (MoM)                         April      -0.3%   0.0%      -0.1%

06:00    Germany           Producer Price Index (YoY)                          April      -0.9%   -0.7%     -0.9%

08:30    United Kingdom Retail Price Index, m/m                                April      +0.2%  +0.4%   +0.4%

08:30    United Kingdom Retail prices, Y/Y                                          April      +2.5%  +2.6%   +2.5%

08:30    United Kingdom RPI-X, Y/Y                                                   April      +2.5%               +2.6%

08:30    United Kingdom Producer Price Index - Input (MoM)             April      -0.6%   0.0%      -1.1%

08:30    United Kingdom Producer Price Index - Input (YoY)              April      -6.5%                 -5.5%

08:30    United Kingdom Producer Price Index - Output (MoM)          April      +0.2%  +0.2%    +0.0%

08:30    United Kingdom Producer Price Index - Output (YoY)           April      +0.5%  +0.8%    +0.6%

08:30    United Kingdom HICP ex EFAT, Y/Y                                      April      +1.6%               +2.0%

08:30    United Kingdom HICP, m/m                                                  April      +0.2%  +0.3%   +0.4%

08:30    United Kingdom HICP, Y/Y                                                    April      +1.6%  +1.7%   +1.8%

The U.S. dollar traded higher against the most major currencies amid the release of Federal Reserve's meeting minutes on Wednesday. Market participants are awaiting the Fed's view of the economy. Recently published U.S. economic data was mixed and showed uneven recovery of the U.S. economy.

The New Zealand dollar decreased against the U.S. dollar. No economic data was published in New Zealand.

The Australian dollar dropped to 2-week lows against the U.S. dollar after the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes. The Reserve Bank Australia's policy meeting showed that the bank plans to maintain interest rates at record lows for a longer period of time because the "overall growth in coming quarters is likely to be below trend."

The Conference Board released its leading index for Australia. The index was flat in March, after a 0.2% rise in February. February’s figure was revised down from a 0.3% gain.

The Japanese yen traded slightly higher against the U.S. dollar. All industry activity index in Japan climbed 1.5% in March from a 1.1% decrease in February, missing analysts’ forecast of a 1.6% rise.

EUR/USD: the currency pair traded mixed

GBP/USD: the currency pair traded mixed

USD/JPY: the currency pair increased to Y101.60

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

12:30    Canada   Wholesale Sales, m/m                                        March   +1.1%       +0.5%  

16:30    U.S.        FOMC Member Charles Plosser Speaks                                                            

17:00    U.S.        FOMC Member Dudley Speak                                                                  

23:50    Japan     Adjusted Merchandise Trade Balance, bln            April      -1714.2      -600.0