Forex Today: Market sentiment improves; Ueda's first BOJ meeting

Matías Salord FXStreet

The Bank of Japan will announce its decision at Ueda's first meeting; market participants will pay close attention to the details. In addition, Australia will release its report on wholesale inflation, and Japan will publish several reports. Later in the day, the focus will shift to the Eurozone, where GDP and inflation figures will be released.

Here is what you need to know on Friday, April 28:

On Thursday, Wall Street had its best day in a week, with the Dow Jones gaining 1.57% and the Nasdaq 2.43% boosted by earnings reports. Meta Platforms surprised and jumped almost 14% on Thursday. More earnings are coming on Friday from companies such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron, PetroChina, China Construction Bank, Sony and Mercedes-Benz.

The improvement in market sentiment favored currencies like AUD, NZD and CAD, while weakening CHF, JPY and the US Dollar. US yields rose sharply, driven more by risk sentiment than by monetary policy expectations.

US real GDP increased by 1.1% during the first quarter, below the 2% of markets consensus. On the positive side, Jobless Claims dropped more than expected. Pending Home Sales tumbled 5.2% in March. On Friday, the US will report Fed’s preferred inflation measure: the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index.

We continue to forecast that the U.S. economy to slip into recession, which we expect will be of moderate severity, in the second half of the year.

The Japanese Yen was among the worst performers on Thursday amid higher yields. USD/JPY rose to 134.15 and then pulled back.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) will announce its monetary policy decision, the first under Kazuo Ueda. No change is expected; however, comments or signs about the future path can have a significant impact. The BoJ will release new macro forecasts. Japan will report Unemployment, Tokyo inflation, Retail Trade, Industrial Production and Housing Starts.

Bank of Japan Preview: New governor but old policy

EUR/USD fell modestly on Thursday, closing above 1.1000. The trend is up but gains remain limited by 1.1050. On Friday, Spain, France and Germany will release inflation figures (April preliminary) and also Eurozone growth numbers are due. Those reports are critical ahead of next week’s European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, which is seen rising rates by 25 basis points, but a 50 bps is not ruled out.

GBP/USD rose for the second day, staying below the recent high and slightly below 1.2500. The Pound outperformed on Thursday with EUR/GBP having the biggest daily loss in a month, falling from 0.8875 to 0.8825.

USD/CAD had the worst day in two weeks, pulling back under 1.3600 on risk sentiment and steady crude oil prices. Canada will report monthly GDP growth, with the economy expected to have expanded at a 0.2% rate in February and flash estimates for March are expected to show slowing activity.

NZD/USD advanced, finding resistance around the 200-day Simple Moving Average at 0.6160. AUD/USD also recovered after being able to defend 0.6600. Both pairs are moving with a bearish bias. Australia will report Q1 Producer Price Index (PPI) on Friday.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) kept the policy rate unchanged at 8.5%, as expected, ahead of May 14 elections. USD/TRY posted a new record high close above 19.43.

The Colombian peso is the worst performer so far this week as political risk picked up in Colombia. President Petro ousted a moderate finance minister, replacing him with a key leftist ally, raising concerns about the economic policies from now on. USD/COP rose to 4,670, the highest level in four weeks. If the depreciation of the Peso continues it could force the central bank to raise rates further.

Crude oil prices recovered moderately after days of sharp declines, closing the gap created after the OPEC+ production cut announcement at the beginning of April. WTI surpassed $75.00 but failed to hold above. Crude remains under pressure, even amid larger inventory draws, reflecting concerns about the global economic outlook.

Gold and Silver continued to move sideways, ending unchanged at $1,987 and $24.90, respectively.

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

Author

Matías Salord

FXStreet

Matías started in financial markets in 2008, after graduating in Economics. He was trained in chart analysis and then became an educator. He also studied Journalism. He started writing analyses for specialized websites before joining FXStreet.

GBP/USD resumes downside below 1.3200

GBP/USD resumes its downside below 1.3200 in European trading on Wednesday. The pair remains vulnerable amid a broadly firmer US Dollar and chaotic UK political environment. The focus is now on BoE-speak for further trading impetus.

EUR/USD sits at yearly low near 1.1350 on USD strength

EUR/USD sits at yearly lows near 1.1350 in the European morning on Wednesday. The pair remains vulnerable to further declines amid a bullish US Dollar. The Greenback continues to draw support from hawkish Fed bets and US-Iran peace deal uncertainty.

Gold: Bears retain control as Fed rate hike bets continue to boost USD

Gold recovers slightly from a nearly two-week low, around the $4,050 region, touched earlier this Wednesday. The commodity, however, sticks to its bearish bias for the second straight day, and seems vulnerable to weaken further amid sustained US Dollar buying.

Dogecoin tests a key make-or-break point amid waning retail support

Dogecoin trades below $0.08000 maintaining a steady decline for the seventh straight week. The meme coin is losing its retail strength as DOGE futures Open Interest drops 10% in 24 hours, while institutional demand remains muted with zero inflows so far this week.

Tech rout weighs on US stocks as the USD clocks a fresh 2026 high

Major US equity benchmarks ended Tuesday’s session considerably in the red, with the Nasdaq 100 down 3.3%, the S&P 500 off by 1.4%, and the Dow Jones down 0.1%. Stocks were largely weighed down by tech amid doubts over the AI-driven rally; the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index slid nearly 8%.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.