ECB and BoE maintain monetary policies, Japan reports negative data

Two major central banks concluded monetary policy meetings on Thursday without introducing any new monetary stimulus. The European Central Bank held its main interest rate at 0.75 percent while the Bank of England kept its main interest rate at 0.5 percent.

Economic data from Japan on Thursday were pretty gloomy.

The economy watchers' survey results released by the Cabinet Office showed weakening sentiment, with the current conditions index falling to 39.0 in October from 41.2 in September and the future conditions index falling to 41.7 from 43.5.

Another report from Japan showed that core machinery orders there fell 4.3 percent in September.

Meanwhile, lower exports in September helped push Japan's current account surplus down by 68.7 percent from a year earlier.

Trade data for Germany on Thursday were also not good. Exports fell 2.5 percent in September, the fastest decline since late last year. Imports fell 1.6 percent.

In sharp contrast, the US reported on Thursday that exports rose 3.1 percent to a record in September. With imports rising 1.5 percent, the trade deficit shrank 5.1 percent to the smallest since December 2010.