investingLive Americas FX news wrap: Dovish BoJ's Ueda, ECB inflation expectations surge

BoC preview: rates to remain unchanged amid US-Iran uncertainty and soft data Strong dollar selling expected for this month-end - Credit Agricole Silver erases all post-ceasefire gains as hawkish central banks weigh on precious metals Euro area inflation expectations for the year ahead jump to highest since October 2023 Latest ECB consumer expectations survey shows surging inflation expectations, lower growth The Japanese Yen jumps on hawkish BoJ dissenters but erases gains on dovish Governor Ueda BOJ governor Ueda says timing of next interest rate hike remains difficult to gauge BOJ governor Ueda vows to stay on the path of raising interest rates What are the main events for today? FX option expiries for 28 April 10am New York cut China's top leadership body vows to continue to expand domestic demand Japanese yen holds slightly higher after a more hawkish hold by the BOJ The main highlight of the session was BoJ Governor Ueda's press conference. Ueda struck a more measured tone as he noted that they want to take a little bit more time in gauging how the Middle East situation would affect Japan’s economy and acknowledged that underlying inflation is currently a bit below the 2% target. He added that they expect underlying inflation to be around 2% from second half 2026 but admitted that he doesn’t know how many months it would take to gauge timing of their next rate hike. The more dovish than expected stance weighed on the JPY which erased all the gains from the three hawkish dissenters. We also got the latest ECB consumer expectations survey which showed a significant increase in near-term inflation expectations and worsening growth outlook stemming from the energy price shock. Traders increased slightly ECB rate hike bets following the survey release. In the markets, the biggest mover has been crude oil with WTI up more than 4% today and back above the $100 level. The US-Iran stalemate is the main culprit as the Strait of Hormuz remains closed. The increase in momentum is also leading to some risk-off sentiment in US equity markets as a prolonged disruption increases the risk of the Fed being forced into monetary tightening and a more pronounced slowdown in economic activity. Tomorrow, we have the FOMC policy decision and, although the Fed is widely expected to keep everything unchanged amid the US-Iran uncertainty, there’s a risk of a more hawkish leaning due to resilient US data and longer than expected disruptions. This article was written by Giuseppe Dellamotta at investinglive.com.