Fed speakers see economic weakness as only temporary

•     Fed speakers see economic weakness as only temporary

–    NY President Dudley (major dove) & Atlanta Fed President Lockhart both say the weak Q1 data was probably only temporary, caused by the bad weather like last year

–    Fed funds rate expectations, US interest rates rebound; USD recovers

–    Fed may push out the time of tightening somewhat, but it’s still headed to tighten

•     CAD steady as oil rallies

–    Bank of Canada business survey, Ivey PMI both weak

–    But with oil prices rebounding, CAD remained stable vs USD

•     RBA hold rates steady

•     Today:

–    Eurozone: Service-sector PMIs for March

–    Sweden:  industrial production for Feb expected to decelerate = SEK-negative

–    US: Job Opening and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) forecast to show small increase in number of job openings = USD-bullish. Watch the “quit rate” too

–    Japan:  Bank of Japan Policy Board meeting ends overnight. No change in tone expected. Market is waiting for the April 30^th meeting, when new economic forecasts will be released

–    Speakers:  Minneapolis Fed President Kocherlakota speaks