| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 00:30 | Australia | CPI, y/y | February | 2.5% | 2.5% | 2.4% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | Retail Price Index, m/m | February | -0.1% | 0.8% | 0.6% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | Retail prices, Y/Y | February | 3.6% | 3.6% | 3.4% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | HICP, Y/Y | February | 3% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | HICP ex EFAT, Y/Y | February | 3.7% | 3.6% | 3.5% |
| 07:00 | United Kingdom | HICP, m/m | February | -0.1% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
| 07:45 | France | Consumer confidence | March | 93 | 94 | 92 |
During today's Asian trading, the US dollar rose slightly against major currencies, while market participants are awaiting new clues about Donald Trump's trade policy ahead of a new round of tariffs next week.
The US Dollar Currency Index (DXY), which tracks the dynamics of the dollar against six currencies (euro, swiss franc, yen, canadian dollar, pound sterling and swedish krona) rose by 0.11% to 104.32. Investors gained some hope for flexibility from the White House after Trump said on Monday that not all levies would come on the April 2 deadline and some countries would get breaks. At the same time, Trump opened a new front in his trade war by announcing the imposition of 25% secondary tariffs on any country that buys oil or gas from Venezuela. Last week, the DXY hit a five-month low, fueled by concerns that Trump's trade war could trigger a recession in the United States. Meanwhile, yesterday's data showed that in March, the consumer confidence index fell to its lowest level in the last four years, to 92.9 points from 100.1 points in February. Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to slump to 94.2 points. The steep drop by the headline index partly reflected a significant deterioration by consumer expectations, as the expectations index plunged to 65.2 from 74.8 in February. The expectations index dove to its lowest level in 12 years and fell well below the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead. Traders are now focused on Friday’s release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, which could provide further insight into the central bank’s policy outlook.
The yen fell by 0.35% against the US dollar, which was caused by statements by the head of the Bank of Japan, Kazuo Ueda, who said that the central bank had yet to sufficiently achieve its inflation target. However, he promised to continue raising interest rates if the constant rise in food prices leads to widespread inflation. Core consumer inflation in Japan reached 3.0% in February and has exceeded the central bank's target for nearly three years, with recent rises driven largely by steady gains in food prices. The Bank of Japan stressed the need to focus on core inflation or a long-term price trend that eliminates the impact of temporary factors when deciding on the timing and pace of further rate increases.