Janet Yellen's announcement of the upcoming rate hike and terrible fundamental data from Europe, all were suggesting the rally in EUR/USD that started in July is finally running out of steam.
Inflation at a four-year low, almost record-high unemployment, strong Euro and sluggish growth– it seems that it is not enough for Mario Draghi to add fresh stimulus in the struggling economy.
The decision to keep interest rates on hold provided another strong boost to the Aussie, sending the AUD/USD pair above 0.93 for the first time in four months.
On Wednesday following the Asian trading session the Japanese Yen lost 0.21% against the U.S. Dollar, with the pair trading around 103.85.
The Sterling was still trading in a narrow range against the U.S. Dollar, still holding modest gains following a release of the nation's construction PMI.
Earlier we have compared the world's largest economy with a patient in the hospital, who is struggling to cure. Moreover, a disease can progress and effects will be almost inevitable.
It is all about inflation in the 18-nation bloc now. It always was. While the IMF and economists see around a 20-30% deflation risk in the bloc, Mario Draghi see deflation risks abating in the coming months. At the same time, some claim consumer prices will pick up to 0.9% in April.
As it was widely expected the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to keep its key refinancing rate at 2.5%, keeping it there for the eight consecutive month already.
Sentiment among Japanese manufacturers soared to its highest level since 2007 in the first quarter of this year, suggesting companies feel confident about the economy due to all efforts from the government, a survey from the Bank of Japan showed.
As always the first week of each month includes three important economic reports from the U.K.– manufacturing, construction and services PMI.
U.S. manufacturing expansion accelerated for a second consecutive month in March, as production and orders rose despite slowdown in employment growth, triggering off a rise in global stock markets and the U.S. Dollar.
With just a day left before the crucial ECB's meeting, each piece of fundamental data plays a more important role for the policymakers, who try to assess the state of the 18-nation bloc's economy.
The kiwi touched a one-year high against the greenback once again on Monday after a series of reports showed the economy will continue gaining momentum in the coming months.
The world's third largest economy feels more and more pressure from the looming tax hike that will be made on April 1.
With only 13 months left before the elections, Britain's politicians will try to do whatever it takes to convince their electorate they are able to lead the economy to a long-term prosperity.
A former CEO of PIMCO Mohamed A. El-Erian considers that a financial support for Ukraine can threated American stocks, resulting in a more serious consequences to the economy.
Brace yourself. Fresh actions from the ECB are coming.
The NZD/USD currency pair retreated from its multi-year high on Friday, as kiwi took a break from the recent rally; however, the outlook is still bullish as the currency continues trading higher on further rate hike speculation and fears of Chinese government action.
Inflation is rising and moving closer to the official target of 2%, however, the looming tax hike on April 1 suggesting the progress can be eliminated.
British economy is on the mend; however, it has lost some the momentum in the beginning of 2014, therefore, markets were not expecting any surprises on Friday from the final GDP figures.
Consumer spending is still boosting the growth in the world's largest economy. Earlier a report from the Commerce Department said that the U.S. GDP expanded 2.6% in the three months through December, more than the 2.4% reported earlier; however, weaker than the 2.7% growth predicted by analysts.
Dukascopy traders still believe in bearish scenario on the EUR/USD currency pair, as 64% of opened positions are short. This time such an attitude is justified by weak inflationary pressure from Europe's powerhouse.
The Aussie, kiwi and loonie were last week's top performers, each adding 2.54%, 1.24% and 1.68%, respectively, as previous week's comments from central banks boosted investors' interest in these currencies.
The Kiwi continued its appreciation versus other currencies on Thursday, after data showed the country has logged a massive trade surplus in February that surpassed analysts' predictions and reinforced a view the economy is building up steam.