The USD/JPY pair attracts some sellers on Thursday and erodes a part of the previous day’s strong move up to its highest level since July 2024. Spot prices, however, trim a part of modest intraday losses and trade just below the 159.50 area during the early European session.
BNY’s Geoff Yu notes that the Norwegian Krone (NOK) and Australian Dollar (AUD) are currently favored in G10 as energy-linked, high-beta currencies with hawkish-leaning central banks.
The Bank of England (BoE) is on track to leave the benchmark Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75% for the second meeting in a row on Thursday, as the macro context has completely shifted in the past three weeks.
Danske Bank analysts expect the Sweden's central bank, Riksbank to leave its policy rate unchanged at 1.75% today with a cautious wait-and-see communication and no major changes to the near-term rate path.
Commerzbank’s Michael Pfister argues that, with Swiss inflation low and the 2022/2023 shock unlikely to repeat, the SNB is now more worried about a strong franc than inflation. Market pricing implies almost one hike by year-end, but the bank may prioritize FX stability.
The NZD/USD pair trades 0.4% higher to near 0.5820 during the European trading session on Thursday. The Kiwi pair gains sharply as the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) outperforms despite disappointing New Zealand (NZD) Q4 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data.
Wells Fargo analyzes the March FOMC decision, noting the Federal Reserve kept the fed funds rate at 3.50%-3.75% and avoided signaling timing for future moves.
MUFG’s Senior Currency Analyst Lloyd Chan notes that the Federal Reserve kept policy unchanged and now signals only one rate cut in 2026, as the US-Iran war and higher energy prices complicate the outlook.
Rabobank’s Senior Global Strategist Michael Every highlights that Brent and TTF prices have jumped as Israel, with US coordination, struck Iran’s largest gas field and Iran retaliated against GCC energy assets.
Commerzbank’s Volkmar Baur reports that the Bank of Japan (BoJ) left rates unchanged with an 8–1 majority, as widely expected. The BoJ still signals willingness to hike if the economy evolves as forecast, and markets see about a 60% chance of an April move.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the US crude oil benchmark, is trading around $96.00 during the early European trading hours on Thursday. The WTI price falls amid renewed US Dollar (USD) demand.
The United Kingdom (UK) docket has the labor market report to be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday, later this session at 07:00 GMT.
The EUR/USD pair trades 0.15% higher to near 1.1470 in the early European session on Thursday. The major currency pair gains as the Euro (EUR) rises against its major currency peers, except antipodeans, ahead of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy announcement at 13:15 GMT.
Pi Network (PI) edges higher toward $0.1800 at press time on Thursday, as the mainnet upgrade to protocol 20 lays the foundation for smart contracts in the ecosystem. The technical outlook for PI remains bearish as the correction earlier this week reflects intense downside pressure.
Silver price (XAG/USD) struggles to gain ground even after sliding to a fresh monthly low of $75.50 during the late Asian trading session on Thursday.
The GBP/JPY cross struggles to capitalize on its modest Asian session gains to the 212.35 area on Thursday and retreats to the lower end of its daily range in the last hour.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which measures the value of the US Dollar (USD) against six major currencies, loses ground after registering nearly 0.75% gains in the previous session and is trading around 100.10 during Asian hours on Thursday.
The USD/CAD pair trades on a softer note near 1.3730 during the early European session on Thursday. Surging oil prices due to escalating Middle East tensions provide some support to the commodity-linked Loonie against the US Dollar (USD).