The EUR/JPY closed the week on a positive note as traders moved away from the safety f the yen as sentiment shifted back to the positive side. This weekend’s ECB stress test is keeping euro traders alert. The pair is trading at 137.01. Data that showed strong manufacturing growth for the eurozone in October continued to support the euro Friday, even as reports circulated that 25 European banks had failed European Central Bank stress tests. The official results of the tests are due Sunday. Despite inflation remaining extremely low across the eurozone and signs that the recovery is weakening in the single currency bloc, the European Central Bank kept its interest rates unchanged at its monthly meeting. Analysts are now looking for Mario Draghi’s assessment of the extraordinary measures introduced in June and details of any further measures.In the latest Wall Street Journal survey of 13 economists who closely watch BOJ policy, nine of them said the central bank has effectively pushed back the time frame for achieving 2% inflation to “three years” from “two years,” as its price target appears increasingly hard to meet.“‘About two years’ is a fuzzy concept that probably means they think they can achieve the goal at some point within fiscal 2015,” ending in March 2016.The BOJ has already muddied the waters surrounding the time frame through the language used in its price forecasts and by the governor himself. People familiar with the bank’s thinking have also said that BOJ officials are using a much looser concept of the price target timetable than a strict interpretation of a spring 2015 finish line
