Foreign exchange market. Asian session: U.S. dollar traded broadly stronger against its major peers during the Asian

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

01:35 Japan Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 52.0 52.1

01:45 China HSBC Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 49.6 49.5 49.8

The U.S. dollar traded higher against the most major currencies despite the weaker-than-expected number of initial jobless claims from the U.S. The euro slumped against the greenback after the European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said at the press conference yesterday that the central bank will launch a large scale quantitative easing program of 60 billion euro a month starting from March 2015 until September 2016 - a stimulus program well above expectations. The central bank kept its interest rate unchanged at 0.05%. The single currency is heading for a sixth weekly decline against the U.S. dollar with upcoming Greek elections this weekend with polls indicating a win of the anti-austerity party Syriza.

The Australian dollar extended losses against the greenback and trading below its lows established in May 2010 although Chinese data on the HSBC Manufacturing PMI picked up as stimulus measures seem having stabilized the world's second largest economy. Data showed a reading of 49.8 in January, beating forecasts of 49.5 and adding 0.2 to the previous month's reading. Still, numbers below 50 indicate contraction. China is Australia's most important trade partner.

New Zealand's dollar continued its fall and traded at the weakest since 2012 against the greenback currently trading at USD0.7486 closing in on lows hit in July 2012.

The Japanese yen traded slightly higher against the greenback after the BoJ left its economic stimulus program unchanged earlier this week but lowered the consumer inflation outlook for 2015 due to falling oil prices. The Japanese preliminary Manufacturing PMI improved from a reading of 52.0 in December to 52.1 in January.

EUR/USD: the euro traded lower against the greenback

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

07:58 France Services PMI (Preliminary) January 50.6 50.9

07:58 France Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 47.5 48.1

08:28 Germany Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 51.2 51.8

08:28 Germany Services PMI (Preliminary) January 52.1 52.6

08:58 Eurozone Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 50.6 51.0

08:58 Eurozone Services PMI (Preliminary) January 51.6 52.1

09:00 Switzerland World Economic Forum Annual Meetings

09:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (MoM) December +1.6% -0.6%

09:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (YoY) December +6.4% +3.0%

13:30 Canada Retail Sales, m/m November 0.0% +0.1%

13:30 Canada Retail Sales ex Autos, m/m November +0.2% +0.5%

13:30 Canada Consumer Price Index m / m December -0.4% -0.5%

13:30 Canada Consumer price index, y/y December +2.0% +1.5%

13:30 Canada Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index Core, m/m December -0.2% -0.3%

13:30 Canada Bank of Canada Consumer Price Index Core, y/y December +2.1% +2.1%

14:00 Belgium Business Climate January -6.9 -6.1

14:45 U.S. Manufacturing PMI (Preliminary) January 53.9 54.1

15:00 U.S. Leading Indicators December +0.6% +0.5%

15:00 U.S. Existing Home Sales December 4.93 5.08