Dear Reader,

Today's overview of economic news and market action

• Yen was very much the centre of FX attention last week
• This has continued at the start of this week
• Overnight, USD/JPY traded above ¥160 before rebounding
• This has led to speculation of intervention by Japan
• Elsewhere, EUR/USD starts this week above $1.07
• EUR/GBP is trading near the midpoint of 85-86p
• Packed calendar this week, includes Fed meeting, US payrolls, EZ Q1 GDP

PMI fell to 49.6 in Mar. The slight decline reflected a fall in new business and output and a sharp drop in sentiment. Meantime, inflationary pressures in the sector continued to build

ECB signals June rate cut on the cards

As widely anticipated, the ECB’s Governing Council meeting for April saw the central bank maintain its key deposit rate at 4%. It marked the fifth consecutive policy meeting that the ECB has kept rates unchanged. There was “consensus” rather than unanimity within the Governing Council on the decision.

Tide Turning for the Eurozone Economy?

This week’s macro data provided further evidence that the US economy is beginning to slow from the rapid pace of growth seen in 2023. The 1.6% rise in GDP in Q1 was well below the market consensus of 2.4%, and reflected a broad-based slowdown in both domestic spending and net exports.