JPY and USD

The Japanese yen gained versus the US dollar as the Bank of Japan maintained its policy. The pair of USD and JPY swapped hands at 119.76. It was down 0.45 percent. On the other hand, AUD and USD traded at 0.7674. It was up 0.54 percent.

The Bank of Japan voted 8 to 1 vote to just keep the policy mark untouched while the only dissenter (Takahide Kiuchi) who opposed the October 31 easing wanted a lower target than that one prior to the last easing.

That board member said the central bank should continue this excessive degree of easing only from April 4, 2013 up to the two-year period so it will not be exaggerated. He also insisted policy target prior to the October 31 easing was proper.

Kuichi suggested that the central bank must perform money market operations along with asset acquisition so the monetary source and unsettled amount outside of JGB holdings will grow annually at about ¥45 trillion.

The board rejected his proposition.

Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index was recorded at 97.82. It was down 0.43 percent in Asian trading.

The MARKIT Euro Zone Services Business Activity Index went up from 53.7 (February) to 54.2 (March).

Growth in Germany, Spain and Italy accelerated development while the UK’s PMI service sector reached a peak of 58.9 reaching a multi-month high.

Price discounting in the euro region pushed growth in the rest of the European continent.