It finally happened. The unemployment rate moved below the Bank of England earlier implemented threshold, while wage growth met inflation.
Even though a number of economic indicators points at further strengthening of the U.S. economy in the months to come, the head of the Federal Reserve, Janet Yellen, said on Wednesday that she saw interest rates staying very low until the recovery is on a firmer footing and the nation's economy fully employs available workforce and other resources.
It seems that investors neither paid attention to Fed's pledge to start raising interest rates next year nor they took seriously Mario Draghi's speech in Washington DC.
The New Zealand currency lost more than a half per cent against the U.S. Dollar on Wednesday as inflation report came weaker than expected.
"We are on track to achieve our 2 percent price-stability target, but only halfway" - Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ Governor On Tuesday Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met central bank's governor during the lunch to discuss the current economic conditions in a calm manner, without adding any pressure. This event can be omitted and not mentioned in the fundamental analysis. However, Kuroda's surprising
The Sterling remained in the negative territory on Tuesday, after the disappointing CPI figures.
Finally, there is a pickup in the inflation rate. Weak inflationary pressure has been one of the main concerns for the Fed during the last months.
After a slew of disappointing data from Germany during the last several weeks, another report suggested that we can see more weakness in the foreseeable future.
The Australian Dollar traded slightly lower on Tuesday versus other major currencies, with AUD/USD sliding back to 0.9394 and EUR/AUD rising to 1.4719 after the release of the RBA minutes.
Last week's comments from the Bank of Japan provoked a massive sell-off of USD/JPY, as investors rushed to buy the Yen following the BoJ meeting, where policymakers said no additional easing was on the schedule.
The cable moved lower on Monday, easing back below the 1.67-mark, as the week ahead will offer a lot of incentives on both sides– from the U.K. and the U.S. to provide direction for one of the most traded currency pairs.
The world's largest economy will accelerate in the second quarter. This is clear, as the U.S. economy is finally emerging from the weather-induced slumber, with retail sales for March significantly outpacing markets' expectations.
After Mario Draghi's speech in the Washington DC, the toughest in his series ever, the single currency fell into a downward spiral, with EUR/USD loosing around 0.44% in the early morning European session.
After a 5-day rally last week, the Aussie lost most of its earlier made gains on profit taking and disappointing data from the world's second largest economy.
While the USD/JPY pair gave up its monthly high on Friday, the minutes of the latest Bank of Japan meeting confirmed that a set of measures to boost growth and deflation is working.
Earlier in April, the IMF claimed the U.K. will be the fastest-growing economy in the G7 this year.
Following the impressive rally that was provoked by dovish FOMC minutes, EUR/USD moved slightly lower on Friday, as the greenback finished the week on a high note.
Europe's powerhouse continues to disappoint… Still, it is not a question that the German economy is the star of the Eurozone, with its low unemployment, robust growth and relatively low debt level.
Two policy meetings, minutes from the BoJ and FOMC, and important unemployment data from Australia.
The Australian Dollar was the biggest mover during the Asian session on Thursday, supported by upbeat unemployment data from Australia, while dovish FOMC minutes dragged the U.S. Dollar lower.
Is the economy strong enough to withstand the tax hike? It seems that Kuroda is overconfident about the current state of the world's third largest economy, as a sharp drop in machinery orders suggests companies are not willing to make huge purchases.
The cable was trading in a narrow range following the Bank of England meeting, as policy makers offered no surprises, staying pat both on the interest rate and the stimulus programme.
The U.S. Dollar picked up from a two-week low versus the single currency on Thursday, as the U.S. Labor Department released better-than-excepted data from the nation's job market.
During the last policy meeting Mario Draghi finally hinted that the ECB is planning to launch the U.S.-style quantitative easing.