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

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

00:00 Australia Consumer Inflation Expectation March +4.0% +3.2%

00:01 United Kingdom RICS House Price Balance February 7% 6% 14%

00:30 Australia Changing the number of employed February -12.2 15.3 15.6

00:30 Australia Unemployment rate February 6.4% 6.4% 6.3%

05:00 Japan Consumer Confidence February 39.1 39.9 40.7

07:00 Germany CPI, m/m)(Finally) February +0.9% +0.9% +0.9%

07:00 Germany CPI, y/y February +0.1% +0.1% +0.1%

The U.S. dollar traded lower against its major peers on Thursday in the absence of any major U.S. economic reports. Market participants look ahead to the upcoming FOMC meeting next week to see if the "patient" wording will change.

The euro stabilized after its recent plunge. Sterling is trading positive. Quantitative Easing and concerns over Greece continue to weigh on the single currency.

The Australian dollar added against the greenback although Consumer Inflation Expectations for March declined from a previous reading in February. March Inflation Expectations came in at +3.2%, compared to +4.0% in the previous month. The number of people employed rose more-than-expected by 15,600 compared to a revised decline in January of -14,600. Analyst expected an increase of 15,300. The Unemployment Rate came in at 6.3%, 0.1% below forecasts and the previous reading.

New Zealand's dollar lost added gains against the greenback after the RBNZ Interest Rate Decision and the following Rate Statement. The official benchmark rate remains unchanged at 3.5% even as the bank cut 90-day bill forecasts. RBZ Governor Wheeler said that rates are entering a period of stability. Future measures, rate cuts or hikes, taken by the bank will depend on economic data. New Zealand's Food Price Index for February came in at -0.7% compared to +1.3% in the previous period.

The Japanese yen traded higher against the greenback on Thursday recovering from new 8-year low at USD122.set on Tuesday. The Japanese Tertiary Industry Index improved by 1.4% beating estimates of +0.6% for the month of January. The BSI Manufacturing Index dropped more than predicted to 2.4 points compared to forecasts of a decline to 5.7. Consumer Confidence in February improved to 40.7, beating estimates of a rise from previous 39.1 to 39.9.

EUR/USD: the euro traded higher against the greenback

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

07:45 France CPI, m/m February -1.0% +0.6%

07:45 France CPI, y/y February -0.4%

09:30 United Kingdom Trade in goods January -10.2 -9.7

10:00 Eurozone Industrial production, (MoM) January 0.0% +0.3%

10:00 Eurozone Industrial Production (YoY) January -0.2%

12:30 Canada New Housing Price Index, MoM February +0.1% +0.2%

12:30 U.S. Retail sales February -0.8% +0.5%

12:30 U.S. Retail sales excluding auto February -0.9% +0.6%

12:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims March 320 317

12:30 U.S. Import Price Index February -2.8% +0.2%

14:00 U.S. Business inventories January +0.1% +0.2%

18:00 U.S. Federal budget February -17.5 -187.3

21:30 New Zealand Business NZ PMI February 50.9