Sweden expands QE and is 'highly prepared' to do more - here's what's happening in FX

Good morning!

We have a couple of central bank announcements this morning, on Thursday, April 21 as of 8:00 a.m. EST.

Here's the scoreboard:

• The Swedish krona is stronger by 0.2% at 8.1159 per dollar after the Riksbank announced it would buy an additional 45 billion krona ($5.6 billion) worth of assets this year in an effort to "ensure the positive development of the Swedish economy and that the rising trend in inflation continues." In addition, the bank held its key interest rate at -0.5%, and said it's "highly prepared" to increase asset purchases or cut rates further, even if it means acting between scheduled meetings.
• The euro is up 0.3% at 1.1324 after the European Central Bank left both its key interest rate and deposit rate unchanged at 0% and -0.40%, respectively. The inaction was expected after the ECB cut rates and increased its asset purchases at the March meeting.
• The Indonesian rupiah closed up 0.3% at 13,140 after Bank Indonesia kept its reference rate unchanged at 6.75%. Additionally, policymakers set the bank's new benchmark rate at 5.5%, which is due to come into effect on August 19. "We expect the reference rate will remain on hold at 6.75% until August, when the new seven-day reverse repo will become the main policy rate," argued Capital Economics' Gareth Leather.
• The Japanese yen is little changed at 109.75 per dollar. "A test of 112.50 seems likely with recent latest signs of Japan resuming buying in foreign debt markets," wrote Morgan Stanley's Hans W. Redeker in a note to clients. "However, we doubt USDJPY can establish a long-term uptrend from here as medium-term downside risks remain in place."
  
• The British pound is up 0.3% at 1.4365, despite some weaker data. Retail sales fell 1.3% in the last month, below expectations of a 0.1% drop. Moreover, core retail sales were down 1.6%, below expectations of a 0.4% drop.
• The dollar index is weaker by 0.1% at 94.38 ahead of a few data points. Initial jobless claims and Philly Fed manufacturing will be released at 8:30 a.m. EST. Later in the day, we'll see the FHFA Home Price Index.

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