Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, March 19:

The volatility surrounding the Japanese Yen and the Australian Dollar heightened during the Asian trading hours on Tuesday as investors assessed the monetary policy announcements from the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Later in the day, ZEW Survey from Germany and Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from Canada will be watched closely by market participants. The US economic docket will feature Building Permits and Housing Starts figures for February.

The BoJ announced that it lift the interest rate by 10 basis points (bps) from -0.1% to 0% and abandoned its yield curve control (YCC) strategy. Both of these decisions came in line with the market expectation. In its policy statement, the BoJ further noted that it will apply a 0.1% interest to all excess reserves parked with the JPY and said that it will use the short-term interest rates as its primary policy tool. USD/JPY rose sharply with the immediate reaction and was last seen rising nearly 1% on the day above 150.00.

Japanese Yen adds to post-BoJ losses, eyes YTD low.