Weekly Forex Market Recap: Apr. 19 – 23

Another slow week for the major currencies as major catalysts were few and far between. The U.S. Dollar was once again a big loser, while the rest of the safe havens took the top spots as risk sentiment soured before the end of the week.

Notable News & Economic Updates:

Oil climbs as dollar slumps but pandemic surge weighs

Australia-New Zealand travel bubble has officially opened

‘Britcoin’ not bitcoin? UK considers new digital currency

After a bitcoin crackdown, China now calls it an ‘investment alternative’ in a significant shift in tone

Oil hits $68 on Libya force majeure despite pandemic surge

Bank of Indonesia holds key rate steady and cuts GDP outlook

Procter & Gamble Will Raise Prices in September

Surprise Crude Build Pushes Oil Prices Down

U.S. crude oil inventories rose 0.6M barrels vs. projected drop of 3.7M barrels

Dow closes more than 300 points lower following reports of Biden eyeing capital gains tax hike

Bitcoin sinks below $50,000 as cryptos stumble over Biden tax plans

Another Slow Week in the Markets

Dollar, Gold, S&P 500, 10-yr Treasury Yield, Bitcoin, Oil

Volatility was a bit lacking this week in the global markets as traders found little to get excited over from the forex calendar and the usual news cycle.

It was also a very mixed bag as the usual correlations didn’t really show up as all of the major asset classes spent a lot of the week in the red as seen in the chart above.

It looks like every market had a reason to stay mostly down in the dumps, with exception for gold (which mostly benefited from a weaker U.S. Dollar, and maybe even bitcoin weakness).

Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto markets were hit over the weekend with U.S. Treasury regulation rumors, and didn’t seem to recover all week. The equity markets were also taking a step back most of the week despite strong company earnings and improving economic data. Oil was also heading lower after a strong Monday start, likely on the latest data showing a rise in crude oil inventory.

And the U.S. dollar as well as U.S. yields dipped on Tuesday, possibly on uncertainty with the U.S. infrastructure bill (Republicans unveil $568 bln infrastructure package to counter Biden) and/or rumors that Biden will propose an increase to the capital gains tax for wealthy individuals, a headline that seems to have taken down the broad markets on Thursday.