The Bank of Japan's decision to raise its rate of interest to 1.00% earlier today was widely expected, but has still given the Yen a bit of a bid despite dominant risk-on sentiment.
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There have been two major central bank meetings which have already taken place today:
Bank of Japan, which hiked its interest rate as expected to the highest rate in 31 years (1.00%!). The hike was largely priced in but overall, it has given the Japanese Yen a small boost on the perceived minor hawkish tilt.
Reserve Bank of Australia, which held its interest rate as expected. The market sees it as a "hawkish" hold which may help stiffen the Aussie's value over the coming days.
Many equity indices saw strong advances yesterday, especially in Japan and South Korea, with further albeit much smaller rises seen so far today. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index has reached a new all-time high. Equities are being led higher by optimism on AI and tech despite the very high valuations, with an additional tailwind from the emerging US/Iran deal.
Crude Oil remains very weak, with WTI now approaching its 3-month low price, trading at about $80. However, there is very little momentum here.
Precious metals like Gold and Silver are holding up but doing little after their recent recoveries.
Bitcoin is doing little after making a minor recovery last week. It may have found some support at around $60,000.
In the Forex market, the USD/JPY currency pair is doing little following last week's bullish breakout, although trend traders will still be long of it. It is still holding up despite the Yen's gains. The US Dollar is not moving much. The rest of the Forex market is also very quiet
There are no more high-impact economic data releases scheduled for today, but with the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting and UK inflation data due tomorrow, we can expect markets to show some life today and tomorrow, even if directional movement in the USD might be restrained.