Forex Today: Eyes on mid-tier US data and Fedspeak to start holiday-shortened week
Here is what you need to know on Monday, March 25:
The US Dollar (USD) holds steady to start the new week, with the USD Index moving sideways in a tight channel above 104.00 in the European morning on Monday. February New Home Sales and Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's National Activity Index data will be featured in the US economic docket. Market participants will also pay close attention to comments from central bank officials.
US Dollar price in the last 7 days
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies in the last 7 days. US Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.58% | 0.99% | 0.38% | 0.55% | 1.58% | 1.51% | 1.57% | |
| EUR | -0.59% | 0.40% | -0.20% | -0.04% | 1.00% | 0.93% | 0.98% | |
| GBP | -1.00% | -0.40% | -0.61% | -0.44% | 0.60% | 0.53% | 0.58% | |
| CAD | -0.38% | 0.21% | 0.61% | 0.17% | 1.21% | 1.14% | 1.19% | |
| AUD | -0.55% | 0.04% | 0.43% | -0.16% | 1.03% | 0.97% | 1.01% | |
| JPY | -1.61% | -1.02% | -0.55% | -1.22% | -1.05% | -0.09% | -0.02% | |
| NZD | -1.55% | -0.94% | -0.53% | -1.15% | -0.98% | 0.07% | 0.05% | |
| CHF | -1.59% | -0.99% | -0.59% | -1.20% | -1.03% | 0.01% | -0.05% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
After falling sharply in the American session on Wednesday, the USD Index staged an impressive comeback and gained nearly 1% for the week. Although investors lean toward a Federal Reserve (Fed) rate cut in June, upbeat macroeconomic data releases from the US highlighted the US economy's resilience and helped the USD outperform its rivals.
USD/JPY edged slightly lower on Friday but closed the week decisively higher. The pair fluctuates above 151.00 to start the week. Earlier in the day, Japan's top currency diplomat Masato Kanda said that they will take appropriate steps to respond to the excessive Japanese Yen weakness, reiterating that they have been closely watching the action in foreign exchange markets with a high sense of urgency. The data from Japan showed that the Leading Economic Index declined to 109.5 in January from 109.9 and the Coincident Index improved to 112.1 from 110.2.
EUR/USD stabilized slightly above 1.0800 after posting losses for the second consecutive week. Eurostat will release business and consumer sentiment data for March on Wednesday.
GBP/USD dropped to its lowest level since mid-February below 1.2600 on Friday before erasing a small portion of its daily losses ahead of the weekend. The pair stays calm near 1.2600 in the European morning on Monday. Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Catherine Mann is scheduled to deliver a speech later in the day.
Gold registered large losses on Friday but ended up closing the week marginally higher. XAU/USD stays in a consolidation phase below $2,170 early Monday.
After losing nearly 1% on Friday, AUD/USD edged higher in the Asian session on Monday but struggled to gather recovery momentum. The pair moves up and down in a narrow band above 0.6500 in the European morning.
Author
Eren Sengezer
FXStreet
As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.
