The April 2026 edition of Market Services FX Spotlight features global market news and insights from RBC Investor Services’ Foreign Exchange (FX) Market Trading Desk.
Headlines
- Geopolitical headlines continued to dominate narratives in March as the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran escalated, resulting in volatile moves in oil, gold, foreign exchange and rates. The threat to oil supply resulted in WTI crude topping USD100/bbl.
- US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed plans to hike global tariffs to 15% under Section 122 of the Trade Act after the initial raise of 10% was actioned.
- Canada’s labour market deteriorated with a net loss of 83,900 jobs in February (down from 24,800 in January), pushing unemployment to 6.7% from 6.5%.
- Canadian inflation fell to 1.8% YoY in February from 2.3% in January, with month-over-month CPI at 0.5%.
- The Bank of Canada (BoC) held rates at 2.25% while acknowledging potential inflation and economic impacts of a lasting Middle East conflict.
- Emerging market currencies got hit as risk reduction took place across Asia and Latin America as conflict wages in the Middle East and higher oil prices weighed on the prospects of oil-importing countries.
The conflict in the Middle East has caused whiplash in central bank pricing as bets for cuts were quickly reversed, causing gyrations in rate markets and subsequent large FX intraday moves.
