Market News

Oil prices saw slight increases in Asian trade on Friday reaching new highs for 2016 following strong gains the previous session.

In the wake of the Fed’s back-pedaling rhetoric, the US Dollar fell against most major currencies during today’s session.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and indicated that moderate U.S. economic growth and strong job gains would offer opportunities for it to tighten policy this year.

As FX traders await the upcoming Fed decision, momentum has driven the US Dollar broadly higher.

The U.S. Federal Reserve meets today and is expected to hold interest rates steady as it considers ongoing concerns about the health of the global economy as fresh signs of domestic inflation are starting to appear.

With the Bank of Japan policy decision out of the way, markets can zero in on the US Federal Reserve Bank’s next meeting which concludes tomorrow.

The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady on Tuesday and the RBA released the minutes of its last Monetary Policy Meeting which took place at the beginning of the month.

FX markets were relatively benign as traders await the outcomes of several key policy meetings across the globe.

Asian shares began the week in positive territory on Monday, boosted by gains on Wall Street and hints of positive data this week by central banks in two of the world’s three biggest economies.

The coming week ahead is full of important news releases that are going to have a big effect on the Forex market, so a much more volatile week can be expected. Get the economic and political calendar for the popular currencies for the week of March 14, 2016 here.

U.S. stock markets have made considerable gains over the past month, but investors await the Fed’s next move before feeling confident.

The euro hovered near a three-week high on Friday as European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi released a bold easing package, cutting rates and expanding asset buys, at the same time undoing the very stimulus he hoped to achieve by suggesting there would be no further cuts.

With the European Central Bank’s policy announcement looming very shortly, the Euro continued to slide broadly as FX traders expect more policy adjustments.

Asian stocks posted gains for the first time this week while the euro weakened before an expected loosening of monetary policy by the European Central Bank. New Zealand’s Kiwi fell and its bonds jumped after a surprise interest-rate cut.

In a complete turnaround, New Zealand central bank Governor Graeme Wheeler introduced a quarter-point reduction in the official cash rate to a record-low 2.25 percent Thursday.