Foreign exchange market. Asian session: the U.S. dollar declined

Economic calendar (GMT0):

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

00:30 Australia Building Permits, m/m November 3.3% Revised From 3.9% -3% -12.7%

00:30 Australia Trade Balance November -3.25 Revised From -3.30 -3.1 -2.90

07:00 Germany Factory Orders s.a. (MoM) November 1.8% 0.1% 1.5%

07:00 Germany Retail sales, real unadjusted, y/y November 2.1% 2.4% 2.3%

07:00 Germany Retail sales, real adjusted November -0.4% 0.5% 0.2%

The U.S. dollar declined against the yen and the Swiss franc amid greater demand for safe-haven assets. China continued to devalue the yuan supporting opinion that the situation in the country's economy is worse than it seems. Trading on Chinese stock markets was stopped within less than half an hour after the open time amid sharp declines in stock prices. Investors panicked after the central bank of China lowered the exchange rate of the national currency to 6.5646 yuan per dollar (the minimum level since August 2015).

The greenback declined against the euro too after the Federal Reserve released minutes of its latest meeting. Some policy makers expressed concerns over still-low inflation.

Turmoil on Chinese stock markets sent the Australian dollar down despite better-than-expected trade balance data. The country's trade deficit came in at -A$2.906 million in November compared to -A$3.305 million reported previously. Economists had expected the deficit to contract to -A$3.100 million. Exports rose by 1%, while imports declined by 1%.

EUR/USD: the pair rose to $1.0813 in Asian trade

USD/JPY: the pair fell to Y117.97

GBP/USD: the pair declined to $1.4622

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

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

08:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index December -0.2% 0.5%

08:00 United Kingdom Halifax house price index 3m Y/Y December 9% 9%

10:00 Eurozone Business climate indicator December 0.36 0.4

10:00 Eurozone Economic sentiment index December 106.1 106.1

10:00 Eurozone Industrial confidence December -3.2 -2.9

10:00 Eurozone Consumer Confidence (Finally) December -5.9 -5.7

10:00 Eurozone Retail Sales (MoM) November -0.1% 0.2%

10:00 Eurozone Retail Sales (YoY) November 2.5% 2%

10:00 Eurozone Unemployment Rate November 10.7% 10.7%

13:25 Canada BOC Gov Stephen Poloz Speaks

13:30 U.S. Continuing Jobless Claims December 2198 2193

13:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims January 287 275

15:00 Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers Index December 63.6 56.7

22:30 Australia AiG Performance of Construction Index December 50.7