The Bank of Japan announced its decision to leave the cash rates unchanged, at -0.1 percent, a move which confirmed analyst expectations. The bank also released its quarterly report, claiming that the economy will recover in a moderate pace.
"Japan's economy will likely improve as a trend as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic gradually subsides, though the pace of recovery will be moderate," stated the bank in its quarterly report.
The outlook, according to the bank, is very uncertain, which is hardly surprising considering the uncertainties regarding COVID-19 and the openings and closures of economies worldwide. Japan's GDP is expected to contract by 5.5 percent by the end of the current fiscal year, higher than the previously projected contraction. Next year, the economy is expected to climb by 3.6 percent, better than previously expected. The bank foresees consumer prices to fall by 0.6 percent, a higher contraction than previously expected.
The cabinet office published October's Consumer Confidence Index, which stood at 33.6, improving from the previous month's 32.7 level and beating analyst forecast of 31.6.
By 6:04 GMT the US dollar gained 0.10 percent against the Japanese Yen, hitting the 104.39 level.
Australia's Business Confidence Climbs, Activity Outlook Improves in New Zealand
The National Australia Bank released its business confidence survey for the third quarter showing that business confidence climbed from -10 to -15.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics stated that the export price index went down by 5.1 percent in the third quarter (quarter-to-quarter) after contracting by 2.4 percent in the previous quarter. The import price index also dropped in quarterly terms, shrinking by 3.5 percent, way lower than what the analysts expected and below the previous quarter's figure, which stood at 1.9 percent.
In New Zealand, the National Bank of New Zealand stated that its activity outlook for October was at 4.7 percent, above analysts' expectations, and higher than the previous month's reading of 3.6 percent.
By 8:45 GMT the Australian Dollar gained 0.08 percent against the US dollar, hitting the 0.7050 level. In the same way, the New Zealand dollar gained 0.13 percent against the US dollar, hitting the 0.6644 level.