Asian shares fell on Thursday as the Chinese

Good Morning,

- Euro trade stable for a second session and US dollar hit a highest level since 2002 vs Japanese yen.

- Asian shares fell on Thursday as the Chinese, Hong Kong and Australian markets slipped.

- G7 ministers and central bank heads began a three-day meeting in German on Wednesday. Although the Greek crisis is not on the official agenda, it will be discussed on the sidelines.

- Greek officials spoke optimistically yesterday of reaching a cash-for-reforms deal, with economy minister saying Greece and its international creditors have converged on key points. But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said there was not much progress and that he was surprised by the upbeat tone from some Greek government officials.

- The head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a German television interview on Thursday that there was still a lot of work to do before Greece and its international lenders could clinch a cash-for-reforms deal. "We are all in the process of working towards a solution for Greece and I would not say that we already have reached substantial results," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told ARD television in comments which were translated from English to German. "Things have moved, but there is still a lot of work to do," she noted, adding that she believed Greece would fulfill its commitments.

- ECB's Nowotny says ultra-low rates are not long-term equilibrium, make sense for a certain period of time will return to normal relationships also regarding interest rates negative interest rates not a long-term perspective.

- US Fed's Williams says monetary policy is "poorly suited" to dealing with financial stability concerns, adjusting rates in pursuit of financial stability can unmoor inflation expectations, must rely on micro prudential regulations to achieve stability goals, monetary policy is costly tool for addressing stability concerns.

- Australia and New Zealand Banking Group on USD: The strong USD trend has been tested and survived but the change in policy stance in China, the energy in bank lending across the G4, and stability in commodity prices suggest the dynamics around the USD have shifted, argues ANZ. "For markets this suggests that even if some pre-existing trends reassert themselves, a change in market leadership is underway. For FX, we continue to expect the USD to retain a trend of strength, but with somewhat different dynamics from what has been seen for much of the past year," ANZ adds.

- The dollar hit its highest level against the yen since late 2002, rising as high as 124.30. The dollar's latest rally was sparked by remarks from Fed’s Chair Janet Yellen, who said last Friday that she expected the central bank to raise rates this year as the U.S. economy was set to recover from a sluggish first quarter. From the other side, markets expect the Bank of Japan to take additional easing steps later this year, when the Fed is expected to start raising rates.

- Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said he doesn't think major exchange rates deviate substantially from economic fundamentals. "At this moment, exchange rate alignment among major currencies does not deviate substantially from the relationship which could be justified by economic fundamentals". Kuroda added that the yen could appreciate if Japan's economy grows in the next two years as the BOJ has been predicting.

- Watch today: Eurozone business sentiment, US jobless & US homes.

Have a nice Day!