Forex Today: Dollar retains its strength ahead of a long weekend

Valeria Bednarik FXStreet

What you need to take care of on Friday, April 15:

The American dollar was once again firmly up, giving up some of its recent gains ahead of the close as speculative interest booked some profits ahead of the Good Friday holiday.

The EUR/USD pair plummeted to 1.0765, its lowest in two years, following the European Central Bank monetary policy decision. The ECB kept rates on hold as widely anticipated and repeated that it would end its bond-buying program in the third quarter of the year. Monthly net purchases will amount to €40 billion in April, €30 billion in May and €20 billion in June.

The statement was quite dovish, as it noted that Russia's aggression is affecting the economies in Europe and beyond. Higher energy and commodity prices are affecting demand and slowing production, which results in higher inflation. Also, trade disruptions are leading to new shortages of materials and inputs, another factor weighing on prices pressure. President Christine Lagarde said it was “premature” to discuss quantitative tightening, adding that rate hikes could begin “sometime after” the end of the APP program.

The GBP/USD pair settled around 1.3070, down for the day but off intraday lows. Commodity-linked currencies, on the other hand, finished the day near their daily lows against the greenback. AUD/USD trades in the 0.7410 price zone, while USD/CAD hovers around 1.2615. Finally, the USD/JPY pair settled around 125.90.

US Federal Reserve officials were on the wires. New York Federal Reserve President John Williams said that the central bank should reasonably consider hiking by 50 bps in May, while Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester noted that the Fed aims to reduce policy accommodation at the pace necessary to control inflation whilst also sustaining economic activity.

Inflation-related concerns pushed US government bond yields towards their recent multi-year highs. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note peaked at 2.835%, now standing at 2.82%.

Wall Street kick-started the day with a positive tone but gave up ahead of the close. The three major indexes ended the day with losses.

Most financial markets will be closed until Monday amid the Good Friday Holiday.

Litecoin rebounds but stays below a downside resistance line

Like this article? Help us with some feedback by answering this survey:

Author

Valeria Bednarik

FXStreet

Valeria Bednarik was born and lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her passion for math and numbers pushed her into studying economics in her younger years.

AUD/USD falls to near 0.7100 after slipping below 50-day EMA

AUD/USD depreciates after registering minor gains in the previous day, trading around 0.7120 during the Asian hours. The technical analysis of the daily chart shows the pair consolidating sideways within a rectangle pattern, as neither bulls nor bears gain control. The AUD/USD pair is holding a slight bearish tone however as it sits beneath both the nine-day and 50-day EMAs.

Japanese Yen edges up but remains close to the 160.00 intervention threshold

The Japanese Yen edges up against the US Dollar on Friday, but the USD/JPY pair remains above 159.90 at the time of writing, unable to put a significant distance from the 160.00 level, considered the limit of tolerable JPY weakness for Japanese authorities.

Gold returns to the red, awaits US NFP

Gold price is looking to test the weekly lows, while in the red near $4,450 in the early European session on Friday. The precious metal remains vulnerable amid ongoing geopolitical turmoil. Traders will closely monitor the developments surrounding the US-Iran peace deal and the US May employment report later on Friday.

Indian Rupee jumps as RBI holds, but unveils measures to boost foreign inflows

The Reserve Bank of India held the Repo Rate at 5.25%, as widely expected, on Friday. But the central bank unveiled various measures to boost foreign inflows into the economy, lifting the Indian Rupee against the US Dollar.

Nonfarm Payrolls set to show stable labor market in May as markets digest Fed hawkish shift

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Nonfarm Payrolls data for May on Friday at 12:30 GMT. Investors expect NFP to rise by 85K following the surprisingly strong 185K and 115K increases recorded in March and April, respectively.

Recession on paper: What really moves the Canadian Loonie now?

Statistics Canada handed the headline writers a gift and the analysts a headache. Real GDP shrank 0.1% on an annualized basis in the first quarter, and with the fourth quarter of 2025 revised down to a 1.0% contraction, that is two negative quarters in a row, the textbook definition of a technical recession and Canada's first since the pandemic.