The forex markets are relatively steady as the week starts. Major pairs and crosses are bounded in tight range as markets are getting cautious ahead of FOMC meeting. US dollar stays firm above 100 handle at the time of writing. Asian equities are mixed with Nikkei 225 closing nearly flat despite the sharp fall in US on Friday. Gold is trading above 1160 for the moment but the recovery is rather weak. Crude oil, on the other hand, breaches recent low of 43.58 and hit 43.57 as last week's decline extends. The economic calendar is relatively light today and we'd probably see the greenback consolidate with a firm tone.
Released earlier today UK Rightmove house prices rose 1.0% mom in March. Looking ahead, Swiss will release PPI and retail sales in European session. Canada will release international securities transactions. US will release Empire State manufacturing index, industrial production and NAHB housing market index.
In China, summarizing the National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang indicated more room to easing. According to him, "the good news is that in the past couple of years we did not resort to massive stimulus measures for economic growth, ...That has made it possible for us to have fairly ample room to exercise macro-economic regulation, and we still have a host of policy instruments at our disposal". The Chinese government has revised lower its growth outlook to +7% for 2015, compared with +7.5% in the prior year.