The European Central Bank to wait until at least June to act

Good Morning,

- EUR/USD …nothing new, the market remains range bound. The euro was stuck above $1.38 level, after pulling back from a near one-week high of $1.3855 yesterday.

- Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as investors weighed better-than-estimated earnings from Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc. and an unexpected drop in home sales in US. Japan's Nikkei -0.97%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng 0.14% (07:26 GMT), Korea's Kospi -0.10%, Australia's ASX 200 0.24% and China's Shanghai -0.50%.

- In an update note to clients, Morgan Stanley discusses the current drivers of the EUR projecting the path for the single currency over the coming weeks. "While we maintain our 2Q target of 1.41 for EURUSD (before a move lower in the second half of the year due to renewed USD strength), we expect more sustained EUR gains to be emphasized on many of the crosses. The current portfolio flow picture points to a EURGBP rebound, where we continue to anticipate gains to 0.85 in 2Q,"

- The U.S. dollar index .DXY last traded at 79.84 after ending little changed on Wednesday. It had dipped to a near one-week low of 79.698 but recovered almost all of its losses.

- Euro could struggle ahead of a speech by ECB President Mario Draghi, although they conceded that it would be hard for him to sound any more dovish. His speech comes a day after a survey showed the euro zone private sector started the second quarter on its strongest footing since 2011. In addition, Draghi has already said the bank will ease policy further if the euro keeps strengthening, although he has been vague on the timing.

- ECB Nowotny: The European Central Bank to wait until at least June to act.

- Exports from Switzerland rose by a real 5.1 percent in March to 17.35 billion Swiss francs. Overall Switzerland ran a merchandise trade surplus of 2.05 billion Swiss francs in March.

- US new homes unexpectedly plunged 14.5 percent in March to the lowest level in eight months, reflecting a broad-based retreat that signals the industry is facing bigger challenges than just bad weather, data showed yesterday.

- Apple reported after the market closed that second-quarter revenue and profit exceeded analysts’ estimates amid a surge in iPhone sales. The world’s most valuable company is set to increase its shareholder payout plan by $30 billion.

- The Conference Board Leading Economic Index for China increased 1.2 percent in March.

- The New Zealand dollar rallied on Thursday after the country's central bank lifted interest rates and signaled more hikes ahead. The kiwi climbed to a high of $0.8626 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said it would continue to tighten to stay on top of inflationary pressures. As expected, it hiked its cash rate to 3.0 percent from 2.75 percent.

- Ukraine's government said on Wednesday the United States had promised to stand by it in the face of aggression, and announced that it would press ahead with a security operation to crack down on pro-Russian armed groups.

- Watch today: German Ifo, French business climate, US jobless.

Have a nice Day !