FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

US Dollar Falls Early Friday Ahead of Michigan Sentiment, Kansas City Services

By

The US dollar fell against its major trading partners early Friday ahead of the release of the final University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading for April at 10:00 am ET and the Kansas City Federal Reserve's services reading for April at 11:00 am ET.

The St. Louis Fed is expected to update its GDP nowcast estimate for Q1 around midday.

A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into Friday:

EUR/USD rose to 1.1708 from 1.1687 at the Thursday US close and 1.1682 at the same time Thursday morning. There are no Eurozone data on Friday's schedule. The next European Central Bank meeting is scheduled for April 30.

GBP/USD rose to 1.3495 from 1.3469 at the Thursday US close and 1.3486 at the same time Thursday morning. UK retail sales rebounded in March after a decline in the previous month, according to data released earlier Friday. The next Bank of England meeting is scheduled for April 30.

USD/JPY fell to 159.4590 from 159.6959 at the Thursday US close and 159.7319 at the same time Thursday morning. Japanese national CPI rose in March after a February decline, lifting the year-over-year rate. The next Bank of Japan meeting is scheduled for April 27-28.

USD/CAD fell to 1.3687 from 1.3694 at the Thursday US close, but was above a level of 1.3674 at the same time Thursday morning. Canadian retail sales data for February and March are due to be released at 8:30 am ET, followed by the Canadian budget balance for February at 11:00 am ET. The next Bank of Canada meeting is scheduled for April 29.

Related Articles

International

ANZ Expects Australia's Trimmed Mean Q1 CPI to Rise 0.9% Quarter-On-Quarter

Australia's trimmed mean inflation expectedly rose 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of the year, with a 3.6% year-on-year increase, said ANZ in a Friday report.The bank expects that the consumer price inflation rose 1.4% quarter on quarter and 4.1% year-on-year.The divergence between headline and trimmed mean inflation partly reflects the impact of higher fuel prices in March, the bank said, as it expects a 35% month-on-month rise in automotive fuel in March, leading to a headline inflation increase of 1.2% month on month in March.ANZ expects the second-round pass-through from higher fuel costs to start having a more material impact on consumer inflation from April.The quarterly data is likely to affirm for the Reserve Bank of Australia that the underlying inflation pressures are evident in the economy before the escalation of the Middle East conflict in late February, ANZ added.ANZ continues to expect a 25 basis points hike in May by the central bank, taking the cash rate to 4.35%.

ASX 200
International

Singapore's Private Residential Price Index Inches Up 0.9% in Q1

Singapore's overall private residential price index rose 0.9% in the first quarter of the year, up slightly from the 0.9% growth a year earlier, according to data released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.Overall private residential index was marginally up by 0.3%.About 55,800 private residential units are expected to be delivered in the next few years.Meanwhile, prices of landed properties fell by 0.4%, following a 3.4% increase in the previous quarter.Rental prices of private residential properties were up 0.3% compared with a 0.5% decrease in the previous quarter.

^STI
International

New Zealand Job Ads Rise Slightly in March

Job ads in New Zealand rose 0.8% month on month in March and were up 13% year on year, according to a Seek report on Friday.Applications per job ad, which are recorded with a one-month lag, declined 2.8% month-on-month, continuing their downward trend.The strongest monthly growth was seen in Taranaki, which rose 2.1%, followed by Southland, up 1.9%, the report said. Auckland edged down 0.1% month on month, and Wellington was broadly flat.In industry trends, trades and services and manufacturing gained 1.8%, while transport and logistics jumped 1.9%. Construction remained unchanged, while information and communication technology edged down by 0.1%.Artificial intelligence (AI) skill demand has grown rapidly in recent years, with job ads referencing AI rising nearly 144% since March 2025 and now more than five times higher than in 2019, although they still appear in only 2.9% of job ads.

^NZ50