Minor moves across FX pairs as Easter looms large

Summary:
- Thin trading as Easter break looms
- 3 markets to watch
- CHF outperforms G10 peers while AUD lags the most
- US housing data comes in lower than expected
- Trading on most stock exchanges and commodity markets to resume on Tuesday

In March core price growth in the Japanse economy climbed somewhat more than expected, however, the rate of growth remained well below the BoJ’s desirable level. The report had, as usual, a very limited impact on the yen. On the other hand, the Japanese equity market (JAP225) moved 0.5% higher today.

Upward momentum on the US stock market has eased a bit as of late. Nevertheless, NASDAQ (US100) still managed to retest record highs. The week ahead is likely to be crucial for another US index - Dow Jones (US30).

Before the start of the new year many economists were afraid of a material economic slowdown in the Chinese economy. As it turned out, it did not materialize at all. This, in part, was due to a massive injection of new loans during the first quarter.

It is hard to omit the fact that we have experienced quite a major improvement in the Chinese data that as of late. Manufacturing production growth of 8.5% YoY was a surprise to say the least. Of course, bigger credit played a role. However, it should be noted that not only fixed capital investment dynamics improve but even bigger improvement was spotted in terms of completed investments’ dynamics.

The US housing market data was the only key reading scheduled for today. Both housing starts and building permits declined in spite of an expected increase. However, as liquidity remains thin no major price swings occurred in the aftermath of the release.