FOREX TODAY: A SLUGGISH START TO THE WEEK'S MAJOR CENTRAL BANKS

WHAT YOU NEED KNOW ON MONDAY, MARCH 18 IS AS FOLLOWS:

Major currency pairings start the week swinging in small ranges because market participants are reluctant to take large positions ahead of this week's important central bank meetings and data releases. During the European session, Eurostat will issue revisions to the February inflation figures. During Asian trading hours on Tuesday, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will release announcements.

The US Dollar three-week losing run as the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note rose to 4.3%, rising more than 5% per week. On Monday morning in Europe, the USD at approximately 130.50, while the 10-year yield fluctuates slightly, hovering around 4.3%. US market index futures are trading slightly higher in the early European session, meanwhile.

THE US DOLLAR'S VALUE DURING THE PAST WEEK

The US Dollar (USD) percentage list of major currencies over the last seven days is displayed in the table below. The US dollar outperformed the Japanese yen in this exchange.

The major currencies' percentage movements relative to one another are displayed on the heat map. The quotation currency is selected from the top row, and the base currency is selected from the left column. For example, the percentage change shown in the box will indicate EUR (base)/JPY (quote) if you select the Euro from the left column and proceed along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen.

China's January-February Retail Sales increased 5.5% annually in February, according to data released earlier in the day. This figure was higher than the 5.2% gain that the market had anticipated. Moreover, Industrial Production grew by 7% during that time, exceeding experts' 5% projection. China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated during a news conference on Monday that macro measures were having an impact on the country's economy, which saw recovery in the January–February period. The NBS added that “further consolidation” of the foundation is necessary for economic growth and recovery.

The RBA would maintain the policy rate at 4.35%. AUD/USD continues to consolidate after plunging almost 1% the week before, with a low of 0.6550 on Monday AM in Europe.

The BoJ said on Monday that it will conduct an ad hoc bond operation. The proposal was to buy Japanese currency bonds (JGBs) valued at 3 trillion yen during the course of a contract that would expire on thursday. After the meeting in March, the markets are still unclear about the BoJ's plan to end its negative interest rate policy. The USD/JPY rose by almost 1% and stayed over 149.00 last week.

The previous week finished with a decline in EUR/USD as it was unable to regain its high from Thursday. Early on Monday, the pair moves in a narrow channel above and below 1.0900.

The GBP/USD exchange rate recorded its largest one-week decline since December last week, falling by about 1%. The pair stays below 1.2750 in the early hours of European morning.

Gold entered negative territory after last week's finish, and it began to decline this week. At the time of writing, XAU/USD had dropped below $2,150 by around 0.5% each day.