Not alot of change overnight in Asia. The JPY has eeked out some marginal gains, EUR/JPY presently down at 127.20 having closed out Tuesday in North America up around 127.75. The JPY and USD continue to benefit from heightened risk aversion. The JPY also got a boost from a better than expected Japanese March trade report.
Today it’s all about the UK, with the Budget Statement to the fore. The market will be focusing primarily on how far public finances and growth prospects have deteriorated. The Chancellor is expected to downgrade growth prospects for this year to around -3.5%. Estimates for public borrowing for the latest fiscal year tend to be in the £160-180 bln range.
European data/events today:
08:30 GMT: Bank of England minutes
08:30 GMT; UK jobless claims (March) expected 116k
08:30 GMT: UK ILO unemployment (March) expected 6.7%
08:30 GMT: UK public finances (PSNCR) (March) expected 18 bln
08:30 GMT: UK public sector net borrowing (PSNB) (March) expected 15.5 bln
08:30 GMT: UK M4 money supply (March-prov) expected 1.2% m/m, 19.2% y/y
09:00GMT: Euro zone govt debt-gdp ratio
