Major currencies are trading mixed in Friday’s European trading session. Strong demand is seen for the franc ( 0.34%), the Canadian dollar ( 0.27%), the euro ( 0.16%) and the pound ( 0.12%). The Swiss franc tops the leaderboard, while the New Zealand dollar (-0.15%) has been underperforming the broader FX market. Spot gold rose $18, or 1.04%, to $1,782.20/oz.
The main laggards thus far are cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin retracing to the $60K level after Turkey announced that it would ban cryptocurrency payments effective April 30. TRY has recently weakened sharply against the USD, and the Turks have been seeking safe haven in the cryptocurrency. To restore confidence in the lira, the authorities decided to ban the cryptocurrency.
At the time of writing, EURUSD was trading at 1.1982, and GBPUSD at 1.3796. The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 1.59% from 1.55%. It looks as though gains in major currencies have subsided for today. We expect to see a correction to 1.1965/70 during the North American session,