FOREX TODAY: FEDSPEAK AND US PMI DATA EYED AS CHOPPINESS CONTINUES

EUR/USD failed to capitalize on stronger-than-expected inflation data for February on Thursday and closed the day in negative territory, erasing a large portion of the gains it recorded on Wednesday. The pair stays quiet early Friday and trades modestly higher on the day above 1.0600. European Central Bank (ECB) Vice-President Luis de Guindos will speak on monetary policy at 0900 GMT. Eurostat will release the Producer Price Index (PPI) data for January. 

GBP/USD suffered heavy losses and closed below 1.2000 on Thursday. The pair seems to have gone into a consolidation phase early Friday and was last seen trading near 1.1980. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland was not about the UK taking back control and added that he will find it "very difficult" to vote for it.

USD/JPY snapped a three-day losing streak on Thursday but seems to be struggling to preserve its bullish momentum, trading near 136.50 early Friday.

Gold price benefited from the strong PMI data from China and extended its rebound during the Asian trading hours on Friday. XAU/USD was last seen trading above $1,840.

Bitcoin came under heavy bearish pressure early Friday and fell below $22,000 for the first time since mid-February before recovering modestly. At the time of press, BTC/USD was down nearly 5% on the day at $22,350. Following Thursday decline, Ethereum continues to push lower on Friday and was last seen trading at $1,560, where it was down 5.1% on the day.