The Eurodollar fell despite private sector activity growing at its fastest pace in a year. The greenback climbed against its rivals after latest Fed meeting minutes showed officials remained concerned about high inflation.
The British pound edged upwards in a week that was dominated by headlines about Prime Minister Sunak’s decision to set a General Election date of July 4th.
The USD/JPY climbed to record a three week high. The ongoing weakness of the yen is continuing to put pressure on Bank of Japan policymakers to raise interest rates.
Gold fell sharply to hit a two week low by the end of the week. Better than expected US data and hawkish Fed meeting minutes raised fears among traders that there may only be one interest rate cut this year.
Stock indexes were mixed, with industrials falling, but tech stocks climbing. Nvidia jumped after the company revealled better than expected earnings results. The chipmaker also surprised investors with the announcement of a 10:1 stock split which will take place on June 7th.
Oil prices decreased and hit an almost three month low on Friday. The falls came ahead of next week’s OPEC meeting, amid reports of disagreement among members on whether to continue existing production cuts into the third quarter.