Foreign Exchange Market Update

April 9, 2026

United States

The Labor Department released a report on Thursday showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose in the week ended April 4. The initial jobless claims climbed to 219,000, an increase of 16,000 from the previous week's average of 203,000. With the increase, jobless claims reached their highest level since hitting 230,000 in the week ending on February 7.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average also crept up to 209,500, an increase of 1,500 from the previous week's average of 208,000. Meanwhile, the report said continuing claims, a reading on the number of people receiving ongoing unemployment assistance, fell by 38,000 to 1.794 million in the week ended March 28.

With the decrease, continuing claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 1.791 million in the week ended May 11, 2024. The four-week moving average of continuing claims also dipped to 1,823,250 from the previous week's average of 1,836,500, hitting its lowest level since the week ended June 8, 2024.

Last Friday, the Labor Department released a report showing employment in the U.S. jumped in March. Non-farm payroll employment shot up by 178,000 jobs in March after plunging by 133,000 jobs in February. The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.3% in March from 4.4% in February. 04/09/2026 - 09:28:00 (RTTNews)

Consumer prices in the U.S. increased in February. The personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index climbed by 0.4% in February after rising by 0.3% in January.  The annual rate of growth by the PCE price index came in unchanged at 2.8%.

The monthly increase in the PCE price index came as prices for goods grew by 0.7%, while prices for services edged up by 0.2%. Excluding food and energy prices, the core PCE price index still climbed by 0.4% in February. The annual rate of growth of the core PCE price index slipped to 3.0% in February from 3.1% in January.

For consumer price inflation on personal income and spending, personal income edged up by 0.1% in February after climbing by 0.4% in January. Disposable personal income, or personal income less personal current taxes, also slipped by 0.1% in February after jumping by 0.9% in January. Meanwhile, personal spending increased by 0.5% in February after rising by 0.3% in January. 04/09/2026 - 09:58:00 (RTTNews)

Eurozone

Euro traded at 1.1700 against USD at 9:00 AM PST

Spain's industrial production declined for the third straight month in February. Industrial output dropped by 1.1% a year ago in February. This followed a 0.2% drop in January and a 0.4% decrease in December. On an unadjusted basis, industrial production was down 1.3% after posting a 3.1% decline a month ago.

Production of intermediate goods and energy fell 2.7% and 1.5%. At the same time, consumer and capital goods output remained flat in February. Industrial output edged by 0.1% monthly in February, but slower than the 0.7% decline seen in January. 04/09/2026 - 07:31:00 (RTTNews)

Germany's export rebounded the most since 2022, even as sales to the U.S. and China declined. Imports also logged a robust recovery in February. Exports grew 3.6% in February from January's 1.5% fall. This was the biggest growth since May 2022. Likewise, imports surged 4.7%, following a drop of 5.1% in January. Imports posted their fastest growth since May 2023.

As imports grew more than exports, the trade surplus fell to EUR 19.8 billion from EUR 20.3 billion in January. On a yearly basis, exports increased 1.7% after a 3.0% fall in January. At the same time, imports gained 0.6% after falling to 5.5% in the prior month.

Exports to the U.S. dropped 7.5% from January, and shipments to China decreased 2.5%. Meanwhile, imports from the US and China increased 9.8% and 6.5%. A notable 26.9% increase in exports to Russia, but imports from Russia declined by 18.7%. Similarly, exports to EU countries rose by 5.8%, and imports from these countries increased by 5.1%. 04/09/2026 - 04:55:00 (RTTNews)

Japan Consumer Confidence Weakens in March

Japan's consumer sentiment decreased in March from a nearly 7-year high in the previous month. The seasonally adjusted consumer confidence index dropped to 33.3 in March from 39.7 in February, which was the highest reading since April 2019.  

The sub-index for the overall livelihood declined notably by 9.8 points to 29.7 in March. The income growth index fell to 39.8 from 42.3 in February. Similarly, the employment index decreased from 43.3 to 37.6, and the index for the willingness to buy durable goods worsened to 26.0 from 33.7. 04/09/2026 - 04:58:00 (RTTNews)