This is what you need to know to trade today friday march 18:
The dollar continued to weaken against its main rivals on Thursday, but the negative turn in risk sentiment helped the currency shake off selling pressure in the early hours of Friday. The euro zone’s January trade balance and February’s US existing home sales data will be on the economic docket, but investors will remain focused on the headlines surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Earlier in the week, headlines surrounding talks between Russia and Ukraine suggested the sides were moving closer to a peace deal. However, on Thursday, Ukrainian and Russian officials said there had been no significant progress in the negotiations. Meanwhile, a Western official told Reuters there was still a very wide gap between the Ukrainian and Russian positions. In a more worrying tone, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “Russia may be contemplating a chemical weapons attack.”
Reflecting the gloomy market mood, US stock index futures fell between 0.3% and 0.6% earlier in the European session. The US dollar index, down more than 1% on a weekly basis, remains relatively calm near 98.00.
The EUR/USD reached its highest level in more than two weeks at 1.1138 on Thursday, but appears to have lost its upside momentum on Friday. The pair is trading sideways below 1.1100 in European morning.
The Bank of England (BOE) increased its interest rate by 25 basis points on Thursday, but the pair GBP/USD lost more than 100 pips and fell below 1.3100. The monetary policy statement revealed a cautious stance on future rate hikes and made it difficult for the British pound to find demand. Although the pair managed to erase a large part of its daily losses in the second half of the day, it lost momentum and entered a consolidation phase above 1.3150.
BoE Analysis: GBP/USD Buying Opportunity? Three reasons to go higher
The USD/JPY continues to fluctuate in a relatively tight range below 119.00 after closing virtually unchanged on Thursday. Earlier in the Asian session, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that it would leave its monetary policy settings unchanged. The entity’s governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, said it was too early to discuss the details of how to get out of the flexible policy.
The gold rallied on Thursday, but failed to recover $1,950. Despite the risk-averse market environment, XAU/USD is struggling to regain its traction and is trading below $1,940 early on Friday.
After Wednesday’s recovery, the Bitcoin struggled to find the address on Thursday and closed the day unchanged. BTC/USD continues to trade in a tight channel above $40,000. ethereum posted gains for the fourth day in a row on Thursday, but lost momentum before testing $3,000.
Source: Fx Street
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