The UK's year-on-year inflation rate in March slowed from 10.4% to 10.1%, higher than the expected 9.8%. On the other hand, the Eurozone year-on-year increase remained at 6.9%. The persistently high price levels are likely to convince major central banks to keep raising interest rates.
GBP/USD then added 17 pips to 1.2438, and EUR/USD fell 17 pips to 1.0954. AUD/USD slid 9 pips to 0.6713. USD/CAD advanced 79 pips to 1.3460, and USD/JPY gained 60 pips to 134.69.
Spot gold fluctuated around the HKEX:2,000 level, closing $10.6 lower at HKEX:1,994.76 an ounce. WTI oil futures fell $1.66 to $79.24 despite US crude oil inventories dropping by over 4.5 million barrels. Bitcoin and Ethereum declined to HKEX:28,998.0 and HKEX:1,953.40 respectively.
The S&P 500 dropped 0.35 points to 4,154, and the Nasdaq 100 fell 3 points to 13,088. The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased 79 points to 33,897.