FOREX TODAY: US DOLLAR STRENGTHENS AND SEEKS TO MAINTAIN GAINS

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO ON TUESDAY, APRIL 2:

The US dollar is the overwhelming winner as of late Monday, despite the fact that several major markets were closed on Easter Monday. The focus of attention at the start of the day was growth-related data, as China released encouraging manufacturing production figures for March. Even still, the news was not enough to cheer investors.

The financial markets priced in the news on Friday that US inflation, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index, stayed at 2.8% YoY in February. Following the report, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed), said that the strong economy and steadily growing inflation mean that the Fed is not in a rush to hike rates.

European Central Bank (ECB) representatives made hawkish remarks over the weekend, which did little to improve the atmosphere. Robert Holzmann, the governor of the Austrian Central Bank, stated on Sunday that the ECB may lower interest rates before the US Federal Reserve. According to Holzmann, the ECB's decision-making timeline “will depend largely on what wage and price developments look like by June.” Additionally, Governor Yannis Stournaras of the Bank of Greece proposed a number of rate reductions for this year, stating that it is “possible” to lower rates by 25 basis points (bps) four times.

Following the release of a significantly better-than-expected US ISM Manufacturing PMI, the US dollar gained strength. The manufacturing sector's economic activity increased in March, the study revealed, following 16 months of contraction. The index increased to 50.3 in March from 47.8 in February. Concurrently, S&P Global disclosed its Manufacturing PMI final estimate, which was verified at 51.9, indicating a decrease from the anticipated 52.5 but maintaining expansionary levels.

Near the February low of 1.0694, EUR/USD ended at about 1.0740. USD/CHF is comfortably above 0.9040, while GBP/USD is trading at 1.2545. Commodity-linked currencies declined in tandem with US indexes; USD/CAD reached 1.3580 while AUD/USD hovered around 0.6480. At last, the USD/JPY exchange rate is 151.60.

Gold hit a record high of $2,265 per troy ounce before retreating to $2,240 in the middle of the US afternoon.

THE CURRENT US DOLLAR PRICE

The US dollar's (USD) percentage change compared to a list of major currencies is displayed in the table below. In relation to the pound sterling, the US dollar was the strongest.

The major currencies' percentage movements relative to one another are displayed on the heat map. The quotation currency is selected from the top row, and the base currency is selected from the left column. For example, the percentage change shown in the box will indicate EUR (base)/JPY (quote) if you select the Euro from the left column and proceed along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen.