Tsipras in Moscow

The Greeks have assured creditors that the IMF will be repaid tomorrow in full, despite indications that the country is about to run out of cash. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in Moscow, due to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin today with the nations expected to discuss trade relations and future development. The move is widely viewed as antagonizing the EU to extract better compromises and a faster disbursement of promised bailout funds. In other news, German factory orders released this morning showed continued contraction after expectations of a 1.50% rebound, instead contracting by -0.90% after the previous months -2.60% print. This was the second consecutive month that the measure missed estimates despite the more accommodative monetary policy environment and increased export competitiveness from a weaker Euro.

As was widely forecast, the Bank of Japan left monetary policies unchanged, with interest rates still at record lows. Japan intends to keep expanding the monetary base at 80 trillion yen annually, with ETF buying expected at 3 trillion Yen and real estate investment trust buying at 90 billion. In the statement, the Central Bank highlighted that the economy continues to recover at a moderate pace but that inflation is likely to miss targets as energy prices drag on the consumer price index. Also cited was the risks emanating from the global economy as doubts about the certainty of the American recovery and fears of European deflation stoke trepidation. USDJPY has largely declined since the announcement, with the pair falling back below the 120.00 handle as the dollar weighs on risk sentiment.