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

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

05:00 Japan BoJ monthly economic report

06:00 Germany Industrial Production s.a. (MoM) February 0.6% 0.1% 0.2%

06:00 Germany Industrial Production (YoY) February 0.9%

06:00 Japan Prelim Machine Tool Orders, y/y March 28.9% 14.6%

The U.S. dollar is trading mixed against its major peers after yesterday the minutes of the last FOMC meeting were published. The minutes show that the board is divided on whether to hike interest rates in June or not. As a consequence of the weaker-than-expected GDP growth and disappointing labour market data a potential interest rate hike might be delayed till September.

The Australian dollar added small gains against the U.S. dollar. The AiG Performance of Construction Index for March came in at 50.1 compared to a previous reading of 43.9 - back in expansion territory.

New Zealand's dollar booked gains against the greenback during the Asian in the absence of any major economic news.

The Japanese yen traded lower against the greenback in Asian trade. Prelim Machine Tool Orders rose year on year by +14.6% in March compared to a previous reading of 28.9%.

EUR/USD: the euro traded lower against the greenback

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

07:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index March -0.3%

07:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index 3m Y/Y March 8.3%

08:30 United Kingdom Total Trade Balance February -0.62

08:30 United Kingdom Trade in goods February -8.4 -9.1

11:00 United Kingdom BoE Interest Rate Decision 0.50% 0.50%

11:00 United Kingdom Asset Purchase Facility 375 375

11:00 United Kingdom MPC Rate Statement

12:30 Canada Building Permits (MoM) February -12.9% 5.1%

12:30 Canada New Housing Price Index, MoM March -0.1% 0.1%

12:30 Canada New Housing Price Index, YoY March 1.4%

12:30 U.S. Continuing Jobless Claims April 2325

12:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims April 268 271

14:00 U.S. Wholesale Inventories February 0.3% 0.1%