A short statement released by the BOJ
The Japanese central bank says that they are starting Phase 1 of its experiments on digital currency issuance today, which will focus on developing a test environment for core functions such as issuance, distribution and redemption.

A look at what is on the board for today
As Easter Monday engulfs the market to start the new week, there aren’t much notable ones to be mindful of even as US traders return later today.

Suspect is in custody
Two police officers and suspect taken to the hospital. Car did not get too far , but suspect brandished a knife after crash.  It is being reported that the Capitol suspect has died (according to ABC news).

What the charts are saying now and going into next week’s trading
The US dollar is modestly higher after the better than expected jobs report but off the initial spike levels. 

Decent US dollar move, but certainly nothing sensational
The US dollar caught a quick bid after a roundly-stronger March . The US added 916K jobs in the month, besting the +660K consensus estimate.

March 2021 non-farm payrolls highlights
This report lands on Good Friday into a thin market and we saw some quick pops in the US dollar but not as large as you would expect. The unemployment rate was in line with estimates but given the uptick in the participation rate, that’s good news.

The USD is mixed
The snapshot of the strongest to weakest ahead of the US jobs report is showing the NZD is the strongest, the CAD is the weakest. The USD is right in the middle with nearly equal gains vs losses vs the major indices. The USD is highest vs the CAD (at +0.14%) and

European markets will be closed on next Monday as well
It will also be a holiday in Australia, New Zealand, and China so expect the Asian and European trading sessions to be extremely quiet with liquidity conditions severely impacted.

All quiet in Europe amid the Easter holiday
It is Good Friday today and most European markets are observing a holiday, with FX being the only notable market open ahead of the weekend.

Three reasons for GBP strength in April
1. Pent up savings
The UK ended its stay at home order on Monday this week. With 50% of the adult population now being vaccinated, COVID-19 infections falling, and expectations of more easing of COVID-19 containment measures the stage is set for some of the pent up savings to be