Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda on Thursday presented an optimistic outlook on consumption and reiterated the bank's intention to reduce the "too large" trade balance, signaling a continuation of its policy of reducing the monetary stimulus to the economy. The statements suggest that the Bank of Japan is maintaining its forecasts for moderate economic growth despite U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies which is causing turmoil in financial markets and threatening the growth of Japanese exports. The Bank of Japan is set to keep interest rates unchanged at a its closest meeting, but the board may discuss raising rates as early as May in in response to domestic inflation and market volatility. These data support the Yen. The currency pair USD/JPY remains in in a downtrend.