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Freddie Mac is reporting that the US 30 year fixed-rate mortgage came in at 6.83% for the April 17 week. That is up from versus 6.62% in the prior week.

The high mortgage rate for the year is around 7.04%. Below is around 6.6%. The current rate is new the middle of that range at 6.83%.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

Pres. Trump is saying that he is very confident on a trade deal with the EU.

• Moving along on trade very well
• Expects to make announcement about trade deals but are in no rush.
• Will end up with substantial number of baseline tariffs.
• We will make a very good deal with China

Italian PM Meloni says:

• I am sure we will make a deal on tariffs.
• Will invite Pres. Trump to Italy

Pres. Trump is meeting with the Italian PM Meloni at the White House and speaking to the press

On other trade news, FoxBusiness Gasparino citing people with direct knowledge, says that

• If the current trajectory of the negotiations remains, White House officials expect to soon announce a trade deal with Japan

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

The Atlanta Fed GDPNow growth estimate for Q2 remain unchanged at -2.2%. The gold import and export adjusted GDP also remains unchanged at -0.1%.

In their own words:

The GDPNow model estimate for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the first quarter of 2025 is -2.2 percent on April 17, unchanged from April 16 after rounding. The alternative model forecast, which adjusts for imports and exports of gold as described here, is -0.1 percent. After this morning’s housing starts report from the US Census Bureau, both the standard model’s and the alternative model’s nowcasts of first-quarter real residential fixed investment growth decreased from 3.7 percent to 2.9 percent.

The next GDPNow update is Thursday, April 24. Please see the “Release Dates” tab below for a list of upcoming releases.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

Gold price (XAU/USD) corrects to near $3,290 in Thursday’s North American session after hitting a fresh all-time high of $3,358 earlier in the day.

Citibank sees gold prices rallying to $3500 over the next three months. The previous estimate was $3000 with the average of $3250 during Q2 2025.

Gold prices reached a high on Wednesday at $3357.92. The price is currently down $41.40 or -1.24% to $3298.59.

Technically, the 100-hour moving average is rising and currently at $3260.83 just above the average price as expected from Citibank. Holding above that level would keep the sellers in firm control. On a break below, the 38.2% retracement of the recent move up from the April 7 low comes in at $3204.43.

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Gold has benefited from flight to safety flows. Central banks have also been big buyers.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

Reuters is reporting that ECB sources are saying:

• Some ECB governors already see high chance of a June rate cut.
• Other governors still far from deciding, placing increased emphasis on real-time soft indicators.

The lean is for a cut but not decided which is not surprising.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.

Summary The European Central Bank (ECB), in a widely expected decision, lowered its Deposit Rate by 25 bps to 2.25% at today’s announcement, while its accompanying statement was dovish overall in tone. In one significant change, the ECB no longer described its policy stance as restrictive. At the same time, however, it refrained from explicitly […]

The post European Central Bank Still Moving Steadily Along Rate Cut Path appeared first on Action Forex.

The Pound Sterling remained steady against the US Dollar on Thursday after US economic data suggested that the labor market remains solid, while housing data was mixed. At the time of writing, the GBP/USD trades at 1.3250 up 0.11%.