A calm day in the markets as Easter celebrations start

There was little activity in the markets today, with most countries marking the Easter holiday celebrations. In Europe and United States, the markets were predominantly closed. Most activities came from Asian countries. Earlier on, Japan released its inflation numbers for the month of March. The numbers showed that the national headline CPI rose by 0.5%, which was higher than the previous 0.2%. The core CPI rose by 0.8%, which was higher than the expected 0.7%. Still, these numbers are way below the 2% target of the Bank of Japan.

The sterling was relatively unchanged against the USD a day after the UK released better-than-expected retail sales numbers. The data showed that the headline retail sales rose by 6.7% in March, which was higher than the expected 4.6%. On a monthly basis, the retail sales rose by 1.1%, which topped the analysts’ consensus of -0.3%. The core retail sales, rose by 6.2%, which was higher than the expected 4.0%. On a MoM basis, the core retail sales rose by 1.2%. This growth was probably because residents were increasing their stocks ahead of the Brexit deadline.

In the United States, the Census Bureau released the housing starts and building permits today. In March, the housing starts declined by 0.3%, which was worse than the expected gain of 6.5%. The starts were at 1.139 million, lower than the expected 1.23 million. The building permits of 1.269 million were weaker than the expected gain of 1.3 million.

GBP/USD

The GBP/USD pair was little moved as traders continued to interpret the data released this week. The pair is currently trading at 1.3004, which is along the 38.2% Fibonacci Retracement level on the four-hour chart. This price is below the important 50-day and 25-day moving averages and below the lower line of the symmetrical triangle pattern. In the coming week, the pair will likely open at the 50% Fibonacci level of 1.3075 or the 23.6% Fibonacci level of 1.2915.

EUR/USD

The EUR/USD pair moved slightly upwards today. It is now trading at 1.1244, which is above the week’s low of 1.1225. On the hourly chart, the price is near the upper line of the Envelopes indicator. The price is also close to the 50% Fibonacci Retracement level. With today’s activity being negligible, attention will now shift to the coming week when the US will release the first reading of the first quarter’s GDP numbers.

USD/JPY

The USD/JPY pair was unchanged, even after the weak economic numbers from Japan. The pair is trading at 111.90, which is slightly lower than the week’s high of 112.15. On the hourly chart, the pair is along the 25-day and 50-day moving averages. It is also between the two extreme prices of this week. At this point, the pair could break out in either direction.