FX Weekly Summary: USD/JPY Ended Above 135.00, GBP/USD Was At 1.2032, EUR/USD Ended At 1.0643, AUD/USD Was Below 0.66
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The dollar weakened on Friday after U.S. labor data for February showed slower wage growth, suggesting an easing of inflation pressures may keep the Federal Reserve's pace of interest rate hikes modest and thereby reduce the greenback's appeal.
USD/JPY
The yen pair started trading this week at 135.9770. For the first two days, USD/JPY traded mostly below 136.00. After that, the yen pair rose and reached a trading high of 137.8850. After reaching the top, the pair turned down and the pair fell towards 136.00. The lowest trading level was recorded on the last day of trading at 134.1710. The USD/JPY pair traded at 135.0480 .
In his last meeting as the BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda left policy settings steady, in line with expectations, given the Japanese central bank adjusted the yield band as recently as December. Incoming BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda has said the central bank must maintain its current ultra-easy policy for now until there are signs that inflation has sustained above BOJ’s 2% target.
EUR/USD
The euro pair started trading at 1.0632. For the first two days of trading, the EUR/USD pair rose towards 1.0695, but failed to maintain momentum and plummeted below 1.06. After this drop, the euro remained below 1.06 for the next trading days, reaching its lowest level at 1.0529 on Wednesday. Despite the low level below 1.06, the pair was increasing its level day by day. The highest level was recorded by the EUR/USD pair on the last day of trading and it managed to exceed the level of 1.07 (1.0701). The trading session closed at 1.0643 .
Moreover, the hawkish tone of Powell's comments also seems to have an impact on expectations of interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank (ECB).
The ECB is scheduled to meet on Thursday, March 16 ahead of the Fed, which begins its meeting next week on March 22.
GBP/USD
The cable pair started trading at 1.2033. For the first two days of trading, GBP/USD traded in the 1.2000-1.2050 range, but failed to maintain momentum and plummeted below 1.19. After this decline, the pound pair remained in the range of 1.1810-1.1850 for the next trading days, and the lowest level was recorded in the range at 1.1812. The GBP/USD pair broke the high end of the range in the second half of Thursday and has been on the rise since then, crossing the 1.19 level. The highest level of the week was reached by the pair on the last day of trading at 1.21107. The closing of the trading session was at 1.2032.
AUD/USD
The Australian pair started the week trading at 0.6755. The AUD/USD pair was falling, but remained above 0.67 for the first few days. Already on Tuesday in the American session, the AUD/USD pair recorded a significant drop to levels below 0.66. Over the next few days, AUD/USD traded in the 0.6575-0.6625 range. The lowest level was also recorded by the Aussie pair in this range, at 0.6572. The highest level of the week was in the first trading days on Monday at 0.6771. The AUD/USD pair ended the week at 0.6584 .
Weak economic data from Australia in the form of building permits and private home permits for January arrived this week. Both sets of data printed in line with estimates but reached levels last seen in January 2022. This deterioration in the housing and construction sectors is a reflection of the high interest rate environment created by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3.60% and said further monetary policy tightening would be needed.
Source: finance.yahoo.com, investing.com
