Yen's decline extends today as a Japanese newspaper reported that prime minister Shinzo Abe would hold a press conference next week regarding the delay of the next sales tax hike. Abe could also announce to dissolve the parliament for an early election with details on the reasons for the decision. Economic minister Akira Amari said that Abe is likely to clarify the new schedule for tax hike while Finance Minister Taro Aso said an appropriate decision would be made. It's believed that the Q3 GDP report due on Monday would be the key to Abe's decision. USD/JPY rose to new seven year high of 116.37 on the news.
In Eurozone, ECB governing council member Christian Noyer said that there's "no problem" for the central bank to buy other assets including government. That's seen as a change in stance as Noyer previously emphasized that only "extreme circumstances" warranted such purchases. Meanwhile, he said that at this point, deflation is not considered a "credible risk" and the risk is "mainly from inflation that is too low, for too long".
In US, Fed chair Janet Yellen said that fulfilling Fed's duel mandate of price stability and full employment requires policy makers to "achieve a deep understanding of how evolving developments and financial markets and economies around the world affect the U.S. economy" and how US policy would affect the world. Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher, considered a hawk, would step down on March 19. that followed earlier announcement of retirement of another hawk, Philadelphia Fed president Plosser.
On the data front, Eurozone GDP and CPI are the main focus in European session. US will release retail sales, import price index, U of Michigan confidence and business inventories. Canada will release manufacturing shipments.