Sterling managed to recover some ground against the Dollar on Wednesday despite market sentiment worsening. In regards to the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, “Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has since said that "while the Ukraine side had set out proposals on paper, there was nothing promising in terms of signs of a breakthrough”. Ukraine has also suggested it could become “a neutral state - with security guarantees - to assuage Russia's fears it might join the Western military alliance, NATO”. Thus far, over 4M people have now fled Ukraine to escape Russia's invasion and more than 6M are displaced inside the country, according to the latest United Nations figures. This marks the biggest refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two - Poland alone has received 2.3M Ukrainian refugees. The global effects of the war is certainly a concern for investors and damping the market mood. According to Reuters, Russia and Ukraine will resume peace talks online on April 1.
EUR/USD traded strong on Wednesday, closing above 1.1160, firmly up for a second consecutive day. During the session the pair peaked at 1.1170 “holding on to gains despite cooling hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict”. EURUSD opened yesterday at 1.1118 and closed at 1.1163.
GBPUSD also caught some upside yesterday. Cable started the day at 1.3123 and finished at 1.3163.
GBPEUR traded in a narrow range on Wednesday and was exposed to limited price-action. The pair opened the day at 1.1792 and closed at 1.1791.
On the data front, at 07:00 this morning, Germany released its February Retail Sales, and the UK published its final Q4 GDP Growth Rate numbers. At 08:55 Germany printed March’s Unemployment Change and Unemployment Persons. In the afternoon, from 13:30, the US will release its latest Core PCE Price Index, Continuing Jobless Claims, Initial Jobless Claims, PCE Price Index, Personal Income, and Personal Spending data. Finally, at 14:00, Fed member Williams will be giving a speech.
