Forex Today: Major pairs stabilize ahead of key PMI data

Here is what you need to know on Tuesday, April 23:

Major currency pair fluctuate in relatively tight channels early Tuesday as investors await key data releases. S&P Global will publish preliminary April Manufacturing and Services PMI data for the Eurozone, the UK and the US later in the day. The US economic docket will also feature New Home Sales data for March.

The US Dollar (USD) Index, which tracks the USD's performance against a basket of six major currencies, closed the first day of the week virtually unchanged. Following a mixed opening to the day, Wall Street's main indexes gained traction and registered strong daily gains, making it difficult for the USD to gather strength. The USD Index extends its sideways grind slightly above 106.00 early Tuesday and US stock index futures trade flat. Meanwhile, the benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield fluctuates above 4.6% after posting small losses on Monday.

The data from Australia showed in the Asian session that the Judo Bank Manufacturing PMI improved to 49.9 in April's flash estimate from 47.3 in March. The Services PMI edged slightly lower to 54.2 from 54.4 in the same period. After closing in positive territory on Monday, AUD/USD showed no reaction to these and entered a consolidation phase at around 0.6450.

Australian Dollar stays calm amid a firmer US Dollar, PMI eyed.

EUR/USD continues to move up and down in a narrow range at around 1.0650 following Monday's indecisive action. HCOB Composite PMI in Germany rose to 50.5 in early April from 47.7 in March.

GBP/USD remained under bearish pressure and touched a multi-month low of 1.2300 before staging a modest rebound in the American session on Monday. The pair was last seen trading slightly below 1.2350.

USD/JPY ended the first trading day of the week virtually unchanged. The pair remains stuck in an extremely tight channel slightly below 155.00 early Tuesday. Japan's Weighted Median Inflation Index, a key measure of the country’s trend inflation, rose at its slowest pace in 11 months to 1.3% in March, the latest data published by the Bank of Japan (BoJ) showed on Tuesday. Commenting on the policy outlook, "our basic stance is that we will look at moves in trend inflation to achieve our price goal, and take a data-dependent approach in setting policy," Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda said.

Gold staged a deep correction on Monday and registered its biggest one-day loss of the year, falling over 2.5%. XAU/USD stays under persistent bearish pressure early Tuesday and declines toward $2,300.