March 2025 and 1Q25 in Figures – Currency Thoughts
March 2025 and 1Q25 in Figures
March 31, 2025
World investors had a bad case of tariffobia during the first ten weeks of the Trump presidency, and it showed in a relatively weak performance of North American equities, higher sovereign debt yields, a sharp rise in the price of gold into record high territory, and dollar losses against several other currencies.
Monetary policies became less synchronized in the period. European central bank interest rates fell further. The Fed put its stance on pause, and the Bank of Japan’s short-term rate target ended the quarter double its level at the start of the period.
Some of the central bank interest rate changes during March not shown in the table below included hikes of 125 basis points in Kazakhstan, 100 basis points in Brazil and 50 basis points in Uzbekistan as well as cuts of 50 basis points in Mexico and 25 bps in Switzerland. At the Central Bank of Turkey, the policy rate was reduced by 250 basis points early in the month, but the overnight lending rate was raised 200 basis points near the end of March.
| 10-Yr Yield | 03/31/25 | March Chg | 1st Qtr Chg |
| U.S. | 4.22% | +1 Basis Point | -35 Basis Points |
| Germany | 2.73% | +33 | +37 |
| Japan | 1.48% | +12 | +41 |
| U.K. | 4.68% | +20 | +12 |
| Canada | 2.97% | +7 | -25 |
| Switzerland | 0.51% | +13 | +30 |
| CB Policy Rate | 03/31/25 | March Chg | 1st Qtr Chg |
| Fed funds target | 4.25-4.50% | 0 Basis Points | 0 Basis Points |
| ECB deposit rate | 2.50% | -25 | -50 |
| BOJ policy rate | 0.50% | 0 | +25 |
| BOE Bank Rate | 4.50% | 0 | -25 |
| Swiss Policy Rate | 0.25% | -25 | -25 |
| FX Rates | 03/31/25 | Mar Chg in $ | 1Q25 Chg in $ |
| EUR/USD | 1.0815 | -4.1% | -4.2% |
| USD/JPY | 149.96 | -0.4% | -4.6% |
| USD/CHF | 0.8845 | -2.4% | 0.1% |
| GBP/USD | 1.2917 | -2.6% | -3.2% |
| AUD/USD | 0.6250 | -0.7% | -1.0% |
| NZD/USD | 0.5679 | -1.5% | -1.5% |
| USD/CAD | 1.4392 | -0.5% | +0.1% |
| USD/CNY | 7.2577 | -0.4% | -0.6% |
| Equities | 03/31/25 | Chg in March | Change in 1Q |
| S&P 500 | 5611 | -5.2% | -4.6% |
| Nasdaq | 17299 | -8.2% | -10.4% |
| Djia | 42002 | -4.2% | -1.3% |
| Dax | 22163 | -1.7% | +17.2% |
| Nikkei | 35618 | -4.1% | -10.7% |
| Ftse | 8810 | -2.6% | +5.0% |
| Canada TSE | 19421 | -23.2% | -21.5% |
| Swiss SMI | 13004 | -3.1% | +8.6% |
| Commodities | 03/31/25 | Chg in March | Change in 1Q |
| Oil, $ per barrel | 71.45 | +2.4% | -0.4% |
| Gold, $ per ounce
Bitcoin, $ |
3156.30
83,825 |
+10.8%
-0.5% |
+19.5%
-10.3% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2025. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
Tags: financial market movements in March 2025 and the first quarter
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