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- Economic calendar was extremely light in the session, largely limited to March employment data from South Korea that saw jobless rate rise 2 ticks to 3.7%, with 195K jobs reported lost on a y/y basis. A barrage of economic reports from China is set for the spotlight in tomorrow's session however, with Q1 GDP joined by monthly figures on retail sales, CPI, and industrial production. Ahead of the release, Chinese press leaked an unconfirmed report without citing sources that Q1 GDP would be above 6.0% but lower than the 6.8% figure seen in Q4. Consensus estimates point to 6.2% Q1 target, as China continues to struggle in meeting the official 8.0% GDP bar set for 2009. Chinese commerce ministry officials also weighed in on recent US allegations of steel dumping, noting that legal action is detrimental to bilateral trade while assuaging markets that growth in forex reserves will not be impacted by the brewing conflict.