The Yen weakened considerably during the Asian session, with the USD/JPY currency pair reaching as high as ¥125, after Governor Kuroda reiterated the importance of the Bank of Japan’s 2% inflation policy and stated that the Bank’s ultra-loose monetary policy will continue until that inflation target is reached. There is no question this a very divergent policy and it positions the Yen as clearly the weakest of all major currencies.
Gold attracts interest as a safe-haven early Monday and stays relatively resilient despite rising US yields. As of writing, XAU/USD was fluctuating in a narrow channel above $1,940.
Bitcoin stayed quiet over the weekend but ended up losing nearly 10% on a weekly basis. BTC/USD is moving sideways above $42,000 early Monday. Ethereum staged a rebound on Saturday but erased those gains on Sunday before going into a consolidation phase near $3,200 at the beginning of the week.
Inflation will also be front and centre for the European Central Bank meeting on Thursday where the risk is for a hawkish slant to the statement.
The European Central Bank isn’t likely to rush to new decisions this week as record inflation in the euro zone and a war raging just over its frontier leave officials navigating a fog of uncertainty.
Data on Tuesday is projected to show U.S. inflation continued to accelerate in March. The closely watched consumer price index is forecast to have risen 8.4% from a year ago, the most since the early 1980s, and 1.2% from a month earlier. The monthly gain, expected to include higher energy costs, would be the biggest since 2005.
With the first round of the French election on Sunday, the verdict on President Emmanuel Macron’s bid for a second term may dominate the news in the euro zone at the start of a week largely curtailed throughout the region by Easter.
Elsewhere, the Bank of Israel is expected to raise rates for the first time in more than three years on Monday. Most analysts predict a rate hike of 15 basis points, but some expect more aggressive action.
Plan your trades carefully and have a great trading week!
This Week’s High Impact Events
The times below are GMT +3.
Monday 11th April
No High Impact Events
Tuesday 12th April
12.00 – Europe – ZEW Economic Sentiment & German ZEW Economic Sentiment
Potential instruments to Trade: EUR Crosses.
15.30 – US – CPI m/m & Core CPI m/m
Potential instruments to Trade: USD Crosses.
19.10 – US – FOMC Member Brainard Speaks
Potential instruments to Trade: USD Crosses.
20.01 – US – 10-Year Bond Auction
Potential instruments to Trade: USD Crosses.
Wednesday 13th April
05.00 – New Zealand – Official Cash Rate & RBNZ Rate Statement
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
3rd Party Cookies
This website uses Google Analytics to collect anonymous information such as the number of visitors to the site, and the most popular pages.
Keeping this cookie enabled helps us to improve our website.
Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!
