Forex Traders On Easter Holiday Break

Global markets are shuttered today for the Good Friday holiday with most major markets also closed on Monday. US markets will be open on Monday but volume is expected to remain light.  The US dollar looks to be heading to break above the 80 price level as tensions in the Ukraine ease and strong US economic data continues to support the greenback. After four-way talks on the crisis in Ukraine produced an accord aimed at de-escalating the conflict, U.S. officials and their European allies warned that Russia must help produce results in days or face new sanctions. The Geneva statement called for all illegal armed groups in Ukraine to be disarmed seized buildings to be returned to their owners and occupied public places to be vacated. It also said an amnesty will be granted to protesters, a mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe will help oversee the measure, and a new constitutional process will aim to establish “a broad national dialogue.”

As the US dollar gains, the amazing strength of the pound continues to push the UK currency upwards. The pound rose to the highest level in more than four years against the dollar as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen signaled the U.S. central bank will keep an accommodative monetary policy that has weakened the greenback. Sterling appreciated to the strongest in six weeks versus the euro after a U.K. government report yesterday showed the jobless rate dropped below 7 percent. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said that was the threshold for policy makers to start considering raising interest rates. The Bank of England will this week release the minutes of its April policy meeting, where it left interest rates at a record-low 0.5 percent. U.K. government bonds declined. The pound is trading at 1.6789 easing overnight by a few points as traders booked profits.

The Bank of England and the Treasury are counting on a pickup in investment and overseas demand to help sustain Britain’s recovery. The U.K. economy will grow 2.9 percent in 2014 and 2.5 percent next year, the fastest expansion among developed nations, the Washington-based International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook published on April 8.

The euro is trading flat this morning at 1.3815 after easing against the stronger US dollar as traders try to figure out the next move of the ECB after Mr. Draghi’s comments this weekend. The dollar-euro exchange rates were virtually unchanged for a second day on Thursday while the yen slipped again amid worries about the simmering Ukraine crisis.