S&P 500 — US Large Cap Index
FTSE 100 — UK Blue Chips
Euro Stoxx 50 — Eurozone Leaders
DAX 40 — German Equities
CAC 40 — French Market Index
Nikkei 225 — Japan Benchmark
Hang Seng — Hong Kong Index
Shanghai Composite — China Mainland
ASX 200 — Australian Market
TSX Composite — Canada Index
Nifty 50 — India Large Cap
STI Index — Singapore Market
KOSPI — South Korea Index
Bovespa — Brazil Equities
JSE Top 40 — South Africa Index
IPC Index — Mexico Market
- EUR/JPY remains steady as the Euro declines, offsetting Yen weakness.
- The OECD projects the Bank of Japan will increase short-term policy rates to 2% by the end of 2027.
- Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel warned that rising energy costs make an ECB interest rate hike increasingly likely.
EUR/JPY remains flat after registering modest losses in the previous day, trading around 185.00 during the Asian hours on Wednesday. The currency cross remains stable as the Euro’s (EUR) decline is driven by a wave of risk aversion following faded hopes for Middle East peace, which effectively offsets Japanese Yen (JPY) weakness.
However, the Japanese Yen may gain ground against its major peers as the Bank of Japan’s April Summary of Opinions revealed that policymakers are considering further rate hikes as early as their next meeting, driven largely by inflation risks linked to rising oil prices.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has recommended that Japan primarily utilize consumption tax increases to bolster its national revenue. On the monetary front, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is projected to raise short-term policy rates to 2% by the end of 2027, though it must remain flexible enough to modify the pace and maturity of its bond-buying activities should financial or bond market disruptions occur.
The Euro may also receive support from a hawkish tone surrounding the European Central Bank (ECB) policy outlook. Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said on Wednesday that the probability that the central bank will need to raise borrowing costs due to the Iran war is rising. Meanwhile, ECB Governing Council member Martin Kocher said on Monday that there’s no need to delay the interest rate hikes if energy prices don’t improve swiftly.
On the data front, Japan’s current account surplus increased to JPY 4,681.5 billion in March from JPY 3,625.3 billion in the same month a year earlier. These figures surpassed market expectations of JPY 3,879 billion, marking the largest amount on record. Traders now await the Eurozone quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Employment Change data for the first quarter of 2026 due later in the day.
