Asian equities are boosted by talk of China stimulus again and risk appetite took commodity currencies generally higher. It's reported that Chinese premier Li Keqiang is hinting that the country is ready to roll out targeted measures to help the economy for growth at a "reasonable pace". Meanwhile, Li also expressed his confidence that the economy has "great resilience and room" China has the " capability, confidence and condition to maintain the economic growth in a reasonable range." Nonetheless, many economists are doubtful on whether China could reach its 7.5% growth target this year without additional stimulus.
Talking about China, it's reported that the Bundesbank and PBoC would sign an MOU to enable clearing of settlement of yuan in Frankfurt. That would take Frankfurt a step closer to becoming a yuan offshore hub. It's reported that the agreement would be signed when Chinese president Xi Jinping visits Berlin today. Meanwhile, the UK treasury said earlier this week that BoE would sign initial agreement with the PBOC on March 31 to clear and settle yuan transactions in London.
In US, Chicago Fed Evans said he expected "low inflation and still-high unemployment will mean that the short-term policy rate will remain near zero well into 2015." He said that by then, US would have had interest rates near zero for nearly seven years. But, "the inference that persistently low interest rates pose a danger to financial stability is based on a narrow view of the economy." On the other hand, he warned that "if more restrictive monetary policies were pursued to generate higher interest rates, they would likely result in higher unemployment and a sharp decline in asset prices, choking the moderate recovery."
The Japanese yen remains generally steady after release of a batch of economic data. The national CPI core was unchanged at 1.3% yoy in February. But the Tokyo CPI core accelerated to 1.0% yoy in March. Retail sales rose more than expected by 3.6% yoy in February and unemployment rate dropped to 3..6%. But household spending dropped -2.5% yoy.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar is rather busy today. UK will release Q4 GDP final, current account and index of services. Eurozone will release confidence indicators. US will release personal income and spending.