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The Bank of Japan (BoJ) released its March monetary policy meeting minutes. The central bank said that the economy will continue to recover moderately. The consumer inflation is expected to be about zero percent "for the time being".

Many board members believes that the BoJ's monetary policy have a positive effect on the economy.

Stock indices closed mixed. Mining shares declined due to the weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data. China's trade surplus fell to $3.10 billion in March from $60.60 billion in February, missing expectations for a decline to a surplus of $43.40 billion.

Exports dropped 14.6% in March, while imports slid 12.3%.

Concerns over Greece's debt problems continue to weigh on markets, despite the fact that Greece repaid the International Monetary Fund (IMF) tranche of 448 million euros last week.

Indexes on the close:

Name Price Change Change %

FTSE 100 7,064.3 -25.47 -0.36 %

DAX 12,338.73 -36.00 -0.29 %

CAC 40 5,254.12 +13.66 +0.26 %

The Chinese Customs Office released its trade data on Monday. China's trade surplus fell to $3.10 billion in March from $60.60 billion in February, missing expectations for a decline to a surplus of $43.40 billion.

Exports dropped 14.6% in March, while imports slid 12.3%.

Exports climbed 4.9% in the first quarter, while imports dropped 17.3%.

U.S. stock-index are mixed as investors awaited this week's corporate earnings reports.

Global markets:

Nikkei 19,905.46 -2.17 -0.01%

Hang Seng 28,016.34 +743.95 +2.73%

Shanghai Composite 4,121.27 +86.96 +2.16%

FTSE 7,056.52 -33.25 -0.47%

CAC 5,244.94 +4.48 +0.09%

DAX 12,352.28 -22.45 -0.18%

Crude oil $52.60 (+1.86%)

Gold $1203.20 (-0.10%)

(company / ticker / price / change, % / volume)

Upgrades:

UnitedHealth (UNH) upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies, target $141

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Citigroup

Downgrades:

Freeport-McMoRan (FCX) downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at BofA/Merrill

Other:

General Electric (GE) reiterated at Outperform at Credit Suisse, target raised from $29 to $31

Walt Disney (DIS) reiterated at Buy at Nomura, target raised from $110 to $120

Italy's statistics institute Istat released its industrial production figures on Monday. Italian industrial output rose 0.6% in February, after a 0.7% decline in January.

The increase was driven by gains in energy and investment products. Energy products climbed by 3.6% in February, while investment products increased 1.1%.

On a yearly basis, industrial output in Italy decreased at an adjusted rate of 0.2%, after a 2.2% fall in January.

The Italian government forecasts that the economy will grow at 0.7% this year.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota noted on Friday that the Fed should wait until the second half of 2015 before starting to hike its interest rate.

"Under my current outlook, I continue to believe that it would be a mistake to raise the target range for the fed funds rate in 2015," Mr. Kocherlakota said.

BLOOMBERG
The Curious Case of Japan's Hidden Inflation

If the Bank of Japan's core price gauge is anything to go by, inflation has all but disappeared. Try telling that to anyone who pays the bills.

The general public thinks the cost of living is rising more than twice as fast as the official inflation rate, a survey of consumers by the Bank of Japan shows.

So why the gap? Naohito Abe, a professor at Hitotsubashi University, has one possible answer in an index that captures changes in prices of new products that account for almost half of goods sold at an average retail shop, and often don't show up in official data.

Together with Intage Inc. and the New Supermarket Association of Japan, he's come up with a measure that also captures the sneaky ways businesses milk consumers -- by reducing the size of a product while charging the same price.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-13/the-curious-case-of-japan-s-hidden-inflation

REUTERS

World Bank cuts East Asia growth forecast, warns of risks to outlook

(Reuters) - The World Bank cut its 2015 growth forecasts for developing East Asia and China, and warned of "significant" risks from global uncertainties including the potential impact from a strengthening dollar and higher U.S. interest rates.

The Washington-based lender expects the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region, which includes China, to grow 6.7 percent in each of 2015 and 2016, down from 6.9 percent growth in 2014.

That's down from its previous forecast in October of 6.9 percent growth this year and 6.8 percent in 2016.

China's growth is likely to slow due to policies aimed at putting its economy on a more sustainable footing and tackling financial vulnerabilities, the World Bank said in its latest East Asia and Pacific Economic Update report on Monday.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/13/us-worldbank-asia-idUSKBN0N404O20150413

BLOOMBERG

Oil Bulls Boost Wagers by Most Since 2010 as Output Seen Peaking

Speculators increased bullish oil bets by the most in more than four years, wagering that the U.S. production boom is slowing.

Hedge funds boosted net-long positions on West Texas Intermediate crude by 30 percent in the seven days ended April 7, the biggest jump since October 2010, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. Long bets rose to a nine-month high, while shorts tumbled 21 percent.

U.S. crude output and inventories may peak this month amid a record drop in rigs exploring for oil, Goldman Sachs Group said. Refiners returning from seasonal maintenance will add about 500,000 barrels a day of demand by July, the Energy Information Administration forecast, helping ease the biggest glut in 85 years.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-12/oil-bulls-boost-wagers-by-most-since-2010-as-output-seen-peaking

European stocks open lower at the start of the new week on a light data day and could not follow the bullish momentum in the U.S. on Friday and in Asia on Monday. Stocks are under pressure after weaker-than-expected Chinese data, fuelling concerns over the economic outlook of the world's second largest economy. This week all eyes are on the upcoming ECB's monetary policy meetings scheduled for Wednesday.

The commodity heavy FTSE 100 index is currently trading -0,33% quoted at 7,066.64 points. Germany's DAX 30 is trading at 12,341.07 points -0.27%. France's CAC 40 is currently trading at 5,224.95 points, -0.30%.

U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday with the focus on corporate earnings this week. The S&P 500 closed +0.52% with a final quote of 2,102.06 points. The DOW JONES index added +0.55%, closing at 18,057.65 points - above the psychologically important 18,000 points level again with the industrial sector leading shares higher. General Electric Company skyrocketed 11% after announcing a restructuring. Both indices are back in positive territory for the year.

Chinese stocks are rallying on hopes on further stimulus measures by the Chinese government after an unexpected drop in exports. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is trading +1.80% at 27,762.44 points. China's Shanghai Composite is currently trading at 4,108.27 points +1.83%. Last week was the fifth straight week of gains with the index up more than 70% in 6 months. The Chinese Trade Balance declined in March with exports slumping. The Balance fell to a surplus of 3.1 billion from 60.6 billion last month. Analysts expected a reading of 43.4 billion. Data on the Chinese GDP is scheduled for Wednesday.

The Nikkei closed almost flat on Monday after setting a new 15-year high on Friday and trading above the 20,000 points mark. The index declined on profit taking in choppy trade -0.01% and closed at 19,905.46 points.