Forex News for 31st March 2023

- Janet Yellen, the US Treasury Secretary, has urged for stricter regulation of the non-bank or “shadow bank” sector, which includes hedge funds, money market funds, and crypto assets, while addressing the National Association for Business Economics.
- Tokyo’s core CPI, an essential indicator of inflation in Japan, increased by 3.2% YoY in March, marking the second consecutive month of a slowdown since reaching a 40-year high of 4.3% in January.
- China’s manufacturing PMI declined from 52.6 to 51.9 in March, impacted by sluggish global demand and higher costs. However, the services PMI surged to its highest level in 12 years, reaching 58.2, driven by looser COVID policies.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggests that the Bank of Japan should contemplate allowing longer-term interest rates to move more flexibly to alleviate pressure on Japan’s financial institutions.
- The YoY EU inflation rate drops to 6.9% against the expected 7.1%, but it has risen 0.9% from February, validating ECB hawks’ interest rate hike views. This led to EUR/USD trading higher due to the divergence in interest rate expectations.
- WTI crude oil futures contract saw over 7% increase while gold remained steady near USD 1,980, and APAC equities are buoyant following Wall Street’s positive performance.
- Comments from Fed’s Susan Collins and Neel Kashkari tilted towards a 25 basis point hike at the January FOMC meeting to control inflation.
- The Nikkei 225 in Japan rose over 1% with the support of a weaker Yen, as USD/JPY peaked at 133.50 from last week’s low of 129.64.