Tankan report

Japanese companies are slightly less optimistic about business conditions than they were three months ago amid growing concerns about the outlook for the U.S. and global economies, a Bank of Japan survey showed on Monday.

Overall, the tankan underscored that Japan's corporate sector remains healthy, adding to Friday's data showing firm household spending and smaller-thanexpected declines in industrial output.

The yen was weaker against the dollar after the data, moving out to around 118.00 yen from around 117.75 just before the tankan's release, while the Nikkei share average opened up 0.34 % at 17,346.25.

USD/JPY traded between 117.40 and 118.08.

Retail sales from Australia

Numbers for the February retail sales were released today. Sales increased by 0.9 %, economists expected an increase of 0.4 %. Numbers for January were revised from 0.9 % to 0.8 %.

Australian building permits

The number of building permits also rose in February. Economists expected a rise of 0.2 %, but the actual number was an increase of 10.6 %. January numbers were revised from -0.9 % to -2.4 %.

AUD/USD traded at 80.86 before the publication of the numbers and briefly after the publication rose to 81.33.

AUD/USD traded between 80.83 and 81.33.