Bank of Japan Officials Signal Continued Interest Rate Hikes Amid Inflation Concerns 
Asian Currencies Hold Steady as Dollar Stays Firm Amid Middle East Uncertainty 
U.S. Treasury Eyes Private Credit Oversight Through Insurance Regulator Talks 
Bank of Japan Eyes April Rate Hike Despite Inflation Dip, ING Says 
Oil Prices Surge Amid Middle East Tensions as Houthi Attacks Escalate Conflict 
ECB Eyes Rate Hike Amid Iran Conflict-Driven Energy Price Surge 
Lots of economic data and events scheduled for today and some with high volatility risks associated.
Data released so far:
- Australia: Trade balance improves to 3.51 billion with exports rising 5 percent and imports by 1 percent. Building permits declined 11.4 percent in December from a year ago.
Upcoming:
- Japan: Consumer confidence report for January will be released at 5:00 GMT.
- Spain: January unemployment change will be reported at 8:00 GMT.
- Switzerland: Real retail sales report will be published at 8:15 GMT.
- Eurozone: Economic bulletin will be published at 9:00 GMT. Producer price inflation for December will be reported at 10:00 GMT. ECB president Draghi is scheduled to speak at 12:15 GMT.
- United Kingdom: Markit construction PMI report will be published at 9:30 GMT. BoE will announce monetary policy at 12:00 GMT.
- United States: Weekly jobless claims report will be published at 13:30 GMT, along with non-farm productivity report and unit labor cost report. TIPP economic optimism report will be published at 15:00 GMT. EIA will release weekly natural gas inventory report at 15:30 GMT.
- Australia: AiG performace of services index will be published at 22:30 GMT.
- Japan: BoJ will release monetary policy minutes at 23:50 GMT.
