Forex - Japanese yen stronger ahead of Q4 GDP data, BOJ meeting start

Investing.com - The yen strengthened slightly against the dollar in early Asian trade on Monday ahead of the start of a two-day Bank of Japan monetary policy board meeting and economic data on growth due shortly.

USD/JPY traded at 103.18, down 0.08%, with other data on the day also expected to set a tone including fourth quarter gross domestic product. AUD/USD traded at 0.9055, down 0.17%, with no major data releases scheduled on Monday.

The Bank of Japan is expected to keep monetary policy unchanged when it announces its deliberations on Tuesday as the economy appears on track toward modest recovery and a 2% sustained inflation aim.

Also in Japan, Q4 revised GDP data is due at 0850 Tokyo time (2350 GMT). The forecast for GDP is +0.3% q/q, or an annualized +1.0% vs. the preliminary readings of +0.3% (annualized +1.0%). Other data at the same time includes January's current account balance, with -¥1.411 expected.

In Chinese data released at the weekend, the consumer price index came in at 2.0% in February, a 13-month low, and the producer price index fell 2.0%. Chinese exports dropped 18.1% in the biggest percentage drop since August 2009 of 23.4%.

Attention remains on China National People's Congress, which continues until March 13.

Last week, the dollar rose to six-week highs against the yen on and pulled back from two-and-a-half year lows against the euro after data showed that the U.S. jobs report for February came in ahead of expectations.

In the week ahead, rate announcements by the Bank of Japan and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will be in focus. The U.S. is to publish what will be closely watched data on retail sales and consumer sentiment.

On Monday, in the euro zone, France is to produce data on industrial production. Switzerland is to publish data on retail sales, the government measure of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity.