Foreign exchange market. European session: the euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar after the release of the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision

Economic calendar (GMT0):

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

06:00 Japan Coincident Index (Finally) February 113.5 110.3

06:00 Japan Leading Economic Index (Finally) February 101.8 99.8

06:00 Switzerland Trade Balance March 4.02 Revised From 4.07 2.16

08:30 United Kingdom PSNB, bln March -6.33 Revised From -6.49 -5.5 -4.16

08:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (MoM) March -0.5% Revised From -0.4% -0.1% -1.3%

08:30 United Kingdom Retail Sales (YoY) March 3.6% Revised From 3.8% 4.4% 2.7%

11:45 Eurozone ECB Interest Rate Decision 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

The U.S. dollar traded mixed to lower against the most major currencies ahead of the release of the U.S. economic data. The number of initial jobless claims in the U.S. is expected to rise by 10,000 to 263,000 last week.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank' manufacturing index is expected to decrease to 8.9 in April from 12.4 in March.

The euro traded higher against the U.S. dollar after the release of the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate decision. The central bank kept its interest rate unchanged as widely expected by analysts.

A press conference is scheduled to be at 12:30 GMT.

The British pound traded higher against the U.S. dollar despite the weaker-than-expected economic data from the U.K. The Office for National Statistics released its retail sales data for the U.K. on Thursday. Retail sales in the U.K. fell 1.3% in March, missing expectations for a 0.1% drop, after a 0.5% decline in February. February's figure was revised down from a 0.4% decrease.

The decline was driven by a weak demand in all categories. Food sales were down 1.9% in March, while non-food store sales decreased 1.5%.

On a yearly basis, retail sales in the U.K. climbed 2.7% in March, missing forecasts of a 4.4% increase, after a 3.6% rise in February. February's figure was revised down from a 3.8% gain.

The ONS also released public sector net borrowing for the U.K. Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks declined to £74.0 billion in the fiscal year 2015/16 ending March 2016 from £91.7 billion in the previous fiscal year. It is equivalent to 3.9% of GDP.

The government forecasted £72.0 billion for the fiscal year 2015/16.

The debt-to-gross domestic product ratio rose to 83.5% in the fiscal year 2015/16 from 83.3% in the previous fiscal year.

Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector banks declined to £4.6 billion in March from £7.4 billion in March a year ago.

The Swiss franc traded higher against the U.S. dollar. The Swiss Federal Customs Administration released its trade data on Thursday. The Swiss trade surplus narrowed to CHF2.16 billion in March from CHF4.02 billion in the previous month. February's figure was revised down from a surplus of CHF4.07 billion. On a monthly basis, exports rose 1.1% in March, while imports jumped 9.9%.

EUR/USD: the currency pair rose to $1.1363

GBP/USD: the currency pair increased to $1.4436

USD/JPY: the currency pair traded mixed

The most important news that are expected (GMT0):

12:30 Eurozone ECB Press Conference

12:30 U.S. Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey April 12.4 8.9

12:30 U.S. Initial Jobless Claims April 253 263

14:00 Eurozone Consumer Confidence (Preliminary) April -9.7 -9.5

14:00 United Kingdom BOE Gov Mark Carney Speaks

14:00 U.S. Leading Indicators March 0.1% 0.4%