APRIL 2026 EVENTS

• US ISM Manufacturing PMI for March (April 1 at 15:00 GMT+1)

The ISM Manufacturing PMI previous print was 52.4. The number was higher than the expected 51.7.

Possible influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks

• Retail Sales in the US for (February) (April 1st at 13:30 GMT+1)

Month-over-Month Retail Sales was at -0.2% in January, against an expected -0.3% figure.

Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks

• U.S. Unemployment Rate and Non-Farm Payrolls (NFP) (March) (April 3rd at 13:30 GMT+1)

The previous month (February) saw unemployment at 4.4%. Nonfarm Payrolls for the previous month (February) printed -92,000, lower than forecasts for 58,000.

Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks

• OPEC+ Meeting (April 5th at 11:00 GMT+1)

Eight OPEC+ members (including Saudi Arabia and Russia) will hold their monthly meeting to discuss and set voluntary production levels. Conflict in the Middle East has made it difficult for OPEC countries to meet production levels, so this meeting, and any commitment to increasing / maintaining output will be important. In March OPEC+ agreed an output increase of 206,000 bpd to take effect in April.

Possible Influence: Volatile Crude oil

• Middle East War: US President Trump Deadline to Iran (April 6th)

US President Trump said he would pause threatened attacks on Iranian energy plants until April 6, 2026 at 20:00 EDT. U.S. President Donald Trump said he will extend the deadline to April 6 for Iran to make a deal to end the war or face the destruction of its energy plants, saying talks were going "very well". "Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, ​they are going very well," President Trump added in his Truth Social post.

Possible Influence: Volatile Crude Oil, Dollar, Stocks, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium and Natural gas

• US Inflation (CPI) data (March) (April 10th at 13:30 GMT+1)

Core CPI (excluding food and energy) was 2.5% year-on-year in February. Headline year-on-year CPI for February came in on target at 2.4%.

Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks

• US Company Q1 Earnings Season (April 13th – May 29th)

The 1st Quarter earnings season kicks off in April, with the banks leading the charge. Of the major companies, JP Morgan (April 13th), Goldman Sachs (April 13th), Bank of America (April 15th), Netflix (April 16th), while Tesla, Microsoft and Google Facebook and Apple are expected to declare their earnings in late April or early May.

Possible Influence: Volatile US Stocks, USA100, USA500

• Bank of Canada (BoC) Meeting (April 29th at 15:45 GMT+1)

The Bank of Canada will meet to set interest rates. They are currently 2.25% after a rate cut of 25 basis points in October. In March rates were left unchanged. The bank is most likely to keep rates unchanged.

Possible Influence: Volatile Canadian dollar

• US Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting and press conference (April 29th at 19:00 GMT+1 and 19:30 GMT+1)

The Federal Open Market Committee of the U.S. The Federal Reserve will conclude its 2-day meeting to decide on interest rates. The current rate is 3.75%, after a 25-basis point cut in December. Analysts expect the rate may remain at 3.75%.

Possible Influence: Volatile US Dollar, Gold and US Stocks

• Bank of Japan (BoJ) Meeting (April 29th at 04:00 GMT+1)

The Bank of Japan will meet to set its interest rates. In December the bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%. There is a possibility that rates might be increased by another 0.25% at this meeting.

Possible Influence: Volatile USD/JPY

• Bank of England (BoE) Meeting (April 30th at 12:00 GMT+1)

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England will meet to decide on interest rates. The current rate is 3.75% and expectations are that rates might either be increased by 0.25% or remain unchanged this month. The last BoE cut was by 0.25% in December.

Possible Influence: Volatile GBP/USD, UK100

• European Central Bank (ECB) Meeting (April 30th at 13:15 GMT+1)

The European Central Bank will meet to discuss interest rates. Rates are currently at 2.15% after a rate cut of 25 basis points last June. The ECB might decide to hike interest rates this month.

Possible Influence: Volatile EUR/USD, GER40