The focus in the New York session yesterday was on the outcome of the European Central Bank's policy meeting as the market maintained expectations for continued policy easing.
In line with expectations, the European Central Bank (ECB) cut interest rates by 25 basis points from 2.90% previously to 2.65%, the 6th cut since June 2024.
As expected, the Euro depreciated after the announcement of the interest rates, but only slightly compared to the continuous surge in value from the beginning of the week.
The follow-up statement by the central bank was delivered cautiously with a warning of uncertain market conditions due to trade war factors, in addition to defense spending plans in Europe that could re-inflate inflation.
Meanwhile, the US dollar remained weak as concerns about the US economic growth increased.
This was due to the risk of retaliatory tariffs by the countries involved on the US that could again affect the world's largest economy.
The US dollar's continued decline from the beginning of the week eased slightly when President Donald Trump on Thursday again postponed tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
This is the second time Trump has done so after suspending the tariffs in February before briefly resuming them in early March, making investors increasingly nervous about the uncertainty over his trade policy.
The market's next focus at the end of the week will be on the US NFP jobs report, which the Federal Reserve (Fed) is also watching to assess the health of the labor market in February.
Early indications from the dismal ADP report published last Wednesday give a less than favorable picture for the NFP report in the New York session later tonight.
