Currency markets will remain closed today, on account of Maharashtra Day.

Financial Market Overview

USDINR

Currency markets will remain closed today, on account of Maharashtra Day.

United States 10-Year rates were 4.388% on the bond markets, while 2-year Treasury yields were 3.886%. The DXY index trading around 98.14.

GBPUSD

The GBPUSD pair settled near 1.3600 after a volatile Thursday session, bolstered by a hawkish 8-1 Bank of England hold at 3.75% where Chief Economist Huw Pill stood alone in favoring a rate hike. While Governor Andrew Bailey warned of pre-emptive action against wage-driven inflation, the Greenback softened following a miss in US Q1 GDP growth. Market attention now shifts to Friday’s ISM Manufacturing PMI and a speech by Huw Pill, which may offer further hawkish cues. Looking ahead, the British Pound faces a quiet domestic calendar and a Monday bank holiday, leaving price action largely dependent on a heavy slate of US data culminating in next Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls report.

At the time of writing, the GBPUSD was trading at 1.3602/1.3603.

EURUSD

During the early Asian session on Friday, the EURUSD pair climbed toward 1.1730 as the Euro gained momentum following the European Central Bank’s decision to maintain interest rates at 2% during its April meeting. Although inflation risks have intensified due to the ongoing conflict in Iran, the ECB adopted a data-dependent stance, leading economists to forecast a potential 25-basis-point hike in June. However, the pair faces potential headwinds from a strengthening US Dollar, as escalating Middle East tensions and President Trump’s continued naval blockade of Iranian ports drive investors toward the Greenback as a safe-haven asset.

At the time of writing, the EURUSD was trading at 1.1731/1.1732.

USDJPY

The USDJPY pair experienced a dramatic 2.25% collapse from a peak of 160.73 to lows near 155.55, marking the Yen's strongest one-day rally in over three years following suspected direct intervention by Japanese authorities. Citing reports from the Nikkei, the Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan reportedly sold Dollars and bought Yen to curb currency weakness, despite a persistent interest rate gap between the Federal Reserve and the BoJ. With Japan entering a period of thin liquidity due to upcoming market holidays and a sparse domestic data calendar, the pair remains highly vulnerable to further official intervention and the outcome of high-impact US economic data, specifically Friday’s Non-Farm Payrolls report.

At the time of writing, the USDJPY was trading at 157.16/157.17.