Indian markets are closed today in observance of Holi, the festival of colors. They will only operate for three trading sessions this week due to another closure on Friday for Good Friday.With the shortened week ahead, significant volatility is expected due to the forthcoming F&O expiry and the release of numerous impactful economic reports. These reports include readings on the current account balance, core sector output, and fiscal deficit balance.In spite of net sales by Foreign Portfolio Investors hitting $314 million, the benchmark indexes Sensex and Nifty managed to achieve minor gains last week.Today, Asian markets exhibited a mixed trend as investors await fresh statistical data on the inflation rates in the US and Europe. Meanwhile, the value of the yuan increased in response to China’s central bank setting an unexpectedly high daily reference rate for the currency.The dollar reached a four-month peak against the Japanese yen after a leading currency official suggested that recent dollar-yen rate trends were inconsistent with fundamental values.Last week’s record high was followed by a rebound in gold prices after the President of the Atlanta Federal Reserve, Rafael Bostic, predicted only one rate cut this year. The oil market saw a rise due to Ukraine’s attacks on Russian refineries and a decrease in US rig counts.In the US, the stock market closed mixed on Friday but charted strong weekly gains as Treasury yields reached one-week lows, courtesy of dovish comments by the Federal Reserve.Despite the mixed closure, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 0.2 percent, securing a record closing high, while the S&P 500 slipped by 0.1 percent and the Dow fell by 0.8 percent.European stocks also displayed a mixed trend at the end of last week, influenced by a week saturated with central bank meetings in Asia, Europe, and the United States.Overall, the pan-European STOXX 600 remained unchanged but with a negative bias. The German DAX saw a slight increase of 0.2 percent, the UK’s FTSE 100 added 0.6 percent, while France’s CAC 40 lost 0.3 percent.The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com
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