The performance of the dollar against G10 currencies remains somewhat mixed as it consolidates recent gains, with the yen being a notable exception as it experienced selling pressure today. This weakening yen, coupled with comments from the Bank of Japan, spurred a 2% increase in the Nikkei, bringing its year-to-date gain to over 10%. Meanwhile, Europe's Stoxx 600 is recovering from yesterday's slight loss, with bank shares stabilizing after a 1.4% decline. In the US, index futures are showing a narrow mix.

Gold prices are holding steady around the $2029-$2039 range, while March WTI crude oil is trading near a weekly high of $74.40.

Asia Pacific
Japan, the world's third-largest economy, has been running trade deficits for the past three years, despite briefly reporting a trade surplus in December, marking only the third occurrence since July 2021.
Conversely, China continues to grapple with deflation, with consumer prices falling for the fourth consecutive month.

The dollar received a boost from comments by the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, Uchida, who downplayed the likelihood of a significant tightening cycle, helping lift it to a three-month high above JPY149.00.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar is trading slightly lower today, hovering around $0.6500.

Europe
The euro has extended its recovery after trading below $1.0725 earlier in the week, reaching almost $1.0785 in North American trading yesterday and climbing to nearly $1.0790 today. However, the euro's upward movement has yet to inspire confidence in establishing a significant low.
Sterling remained within the $1.26-$1.28 range yesterday, a pattern that has persisted in recent weeks, and is currently trading just below $1.2640.

America
Market participants are keeping a close eye on the performance of regional US banks, as well as two other key developments. Firstly, weekly initial jobless claims have risen for two consecutive weeks, reaching 224k in late January, the highest since August of last year. Secondly, today marks the conclusion of the Treasury's quarterly refunding, with $25 billion in 30-year bonds, representing a $4 billion increase.

Recent price action highlights the significance of the CAD1.3535-45 resistance level for the US dollar, which has stalled at this level twice last month and earlier this week.