Forex Today: Investors eye central bank speak in search of fresh catalyst

Eren Sengezer FXStreet

Here is what you need to know on Thursday, April 20:

Choppy market action continues this week as participants look for the next fundamental driver. The US Dollar Index extends its sideways grind following Wednesday's uninspiring rebound and the risk mood stays neutral on Thursday. The European Central Bank (ECB) will release the minutes of its last policy meeting and President Christine Lagarde will be delivering a speech. The US economic docket will feature Existing Home Sales, weekly Jobless Claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Survey. Fed Governor Waller and policymakers Waller, Mester, Bowman and Logan are scheduled to speak later in the day as well.

The cautious market stance and rising US Treasury bond yields helped the US Dollar (USD) stay resilient against its rivals on Wednesday. Early Thursday, the 10-year US T-bond yield slipped back below 3.6%. The Fed's Beige Book revealed late Wednesday that overall price levels rose moderately and the rate of price increases appeared to be slowing in the survey period ending April 10.

During the Asian trading hours, the data from New Zealand showed that the annualized Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the first quarter dropped to 6.7% from 7.2%. This reading came in below the market expectation of 7.1% and weighed on NZD/USD. The pair was last seen losing 0.4% on the day at 0.6170.

EUR/USD erased a portion of its daily gains in the American session and registered small daily losses on Wednesday. The pair stays quiet and fluctuates above 1.0950 in the European morning on Thursday.

Pound Sterling held strong against the USD on Wednesday on the back of hot inflation data from the UK. After having closed modestly higher, GBP/USD seems to have gone into a consolidation phase at around 1.2450 on Thursday.

USD/CAD rose sharply on Wednesday and gained nearly 100 pips on its way to a fresh weekly high above 1.3470. The commodity-sensitive loonie struggled to find demand as crude oil prices fell more than 2% on a daily basis. The pair seems to have stabilized near 1.3450 early Thursday.

USD/JPY benefited from rising US T-bond yields but lost its traction after facing stiff resistance near 135.00. The pair consolidates its gains at around 134.50 in the European morning.

Gold price fell to its weakest level in two weeks below $1,970 on Wednesday before retracing the majority of its daily drop in the second half of the day. Early Thursday, XAU/USD moves up and down in a narrow channel slightly below $2,000.

Bitcoin broke below $30,000 and ended up losing more than 5% on Wednesday. BTC/USD seems to have settled at around $29,000 on Thursday. Ethereum recorded its biggest one-day decline since November as it lost more than 8% on Wednesday. ETH/USD trades below key $2,000 following the latest selloff.

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.

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