Market participants are likely to keep a close eye on currency strength and weakness amid the three-day weekend in Europe and the U.S.

Market participants are likely to keep a close eye on currency strength and weakness amid the three-day weekend in Europe and the U.S.

07.04.2023

In yesterday’s U.S. trading session, the U.S. dollar rose against the yen after the March Challenger job cuts figure, released yesterday, showed a significant decline from the previous reading. The USD/JPY pair rose by approximately 110 pips, from 130.780 to 131.917. Combined with remarks by St. Louis Fed President Bullard, who emphasized the need for continued rate hikes, the pair rebounded to the 75-period moving average on the hourly chart.As the market has been trading sideways during today’s Asian session, attention will focus on whether the U.S. employment report during the U.S. session will provide a clearer sense of direction.

European currencies rose against the yen after Germany’s February industrial production, released yesterday, came in at a 0.6% year-over-year increase, beating market expectations. The euro showed momentum by breaking above the 200-period simple moving average (SMA) on the hourly chart. During today’s Asian trading session, it is trading around 143.710. Given that the daily chart shows a pattern of higher lows, we will need to carefully assess whether price action will pick up over the weekend.

Today’s economic indicators include France’s trade balance and current account at 3:45 p.m., India’s foreign exchange reserves at 8:30 p.m., Poland’s central bank foreign exchange reserves at 9:00 p.m., U.S. nonfarm payrolls at 9:30 p.m., Russia’s fourth-quarter GDP at 1:00 a.m., and U.S. consumer credit at 4:00 a.m.Please note that today, due to Easter, markets in major Western countries—including the UK, the US, and Germany—will be closed. With Western markets observing a three-day holiday, we will carefully assess currency strength and weakness.