Australia's Energy Crisis: Free Public Transport as Fuel Shortages Bite 
BOJ Holds Interest Rates Steady Amid Middle East Uncertainty 
ANZ and Westpac Forecast Two RBA Rate Hikes in March and May 2026 
U.S. Stock Futures Drop as Iran War Escalates, Oil Surges Past $115 
U.S. Jobs Market Eyes March Recovery Amid Inflation Pressures 
Oil Prices Surge Amid Middle East Tensions as Houthi Attacks Escalate Conflict 
How the war in Iran is already affecting UK farmers and food production 
Fed Holds Rates Steady as Middle East Conflict Clouds Inflation Outlook 
Russell 1000 Companies Hit $2.2T Cash Record While Aggressively Reinvesting in Growth 
Cybersecurity Stocks Tumble After Anthropic's Claude Mythos AI Leak Sparks Market Fears 
Bank of Japan Unveils New Inflation Gauge to Support Case for Future Rate Hikes 
EU and CPTPP Nations Push for Landmark Digital Trade Agreement 
Bank of Japan Officials Signal Continued Interest Rate Hikes Amid Inflation Concerns 
Lots of economic dockets and events scheduled for today and some with high volatility risks associated.
Data released so far:
- Australia: Export prices grew by 9.4 percent in the first quarter, while import prices grew by 1.2 percent.
- Japan: BoJ kept monetary policy steady at today’s meeting. The press conference is scheduled at 6:30 GMT.
Upcoming:
- Germany: GFK consumer confidence report will be released at 6:00 GMT. Consumer price inflation report will be released at 12:00 GMT.
- Switzerland: March trade balance report will be released at 6:00 GMT.
- Spain: First quarter unemployment survey will be released at 7:00 GMT, along with April flash HICP report.
- Italy: Consumer and business confidence for April will be reported at 8:00 GMT.
- Portugal: Consumer and business confidence for April will be reported at 8:00 GMT, followed by trade balance at 8:30 GMT.
- United Kingdom: CBI will release trade survey report at 10:00 GMT. GFK consumer confidence report for April will be released at 23:00 GMT.
- Eurozone: Sentiment and confidence reports for April will be released at 10:00 GMT. ECB will announce interest rate decision at 11:45 GMT, followed by a press conference at 12:30 GMT.
- United States: Weekly jobless claims report will be released at 12:30 GMT, along with durable goods order report and goods trade balance report. Pending home sales report will be released at 14:00 GMT. EIA will release weekly natural gas inventory report at 14:30 GMT.
- New Zealand: March trade balance report will be released at 22:45 GMT.
- Japan: Tokyo and National inflation report will be released at 23:30 GMT, along with unemployment report for March and followed by flash industrial production numbers for March and retail trade details.
- Auction: U.S. will auction 7-year note at 17:00 GMT. Italy will auction 5-year and 10-year bonds.
