Forex Headlines – Wrapping Up The Trading Day
I had expected another boring day until the New York trading session begin. The market remained mostly unchanged during the Asian and European sessions, as traders were waiting for the right time to hit the right opportunity. The opportunities came knocking in the wake of several economic releases. Let me highlight the outcomes of all the major fundamentals discussed in our 27th of April Morning Brief.
BOJ Rate Decision
This morning, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to hold the interest rates in the negative territory at -0.1%. The decision came as no surprise. This is why the market showed a muted response to the major economic release. The Japanese Yen remained weaker compared to the faded demand for haven assets.
ECB Minimum Bid Rate
Just like the BOJ, the European Central Bank left the minimum bid rate unchanged at 0.0% and the deposit rate at -0.40%. The decision was anticipated and came in accordance with our prediction shared in the morning brief today.
In addition to this, the ECB kept the quantitative easing (QE) program unchanged. So the ECB will continue purchasing EUR 60 billion until the end of 2017. This ultimately weakens the currency.
U.S Durable & Core Durable Goods Orders
As per the U.S Census Bureau's report, the durable goods order expanded 0.7% for the month of March. The figure disappointed as it came in lower than the expected 1.3% rise. On the other hand, the core durable goods order remained worse at -0.2%, missing the expected 0.4%.
The mixture of outcomes left traders confused as to whether to buy the dollar on weaker Euro or to sell it on inauspicious economic events.