Markets are holding a cautious tone as traders await today\u2019s key central bank decisions. After recent volatility driven by geopolitical tensions and the surge in oil prices, risk sentiment is stabilising slightly, but overall uncertainty remains\u00a0high.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf7 In Asia, markets moved higher. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 gained around 2.5%, while TOPIX added more than 2%. South Korea\u2019s KOSPI surged close to 4%. Hong Kong traded near flat, and mainland China indices remained under pressure. The rebound reflects short-term relief as oil eased slightly from recent\u00a0highs.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udcb5 The US dollar is relatively steady ahead of the Fed. EUR\/USD is trading near 1.1550<\/strong>, while GBP\/USD is around 1.3370<\/strong>. Major currency pairs are consolidating as traders avoid aggressive positioning before the policy decision.<\/p>\n \ud83e\ude99 Gold<\/strong> is trading around $5,010<\/strong> per ounce, staying elevated on strong safe-haven demand. Geopolitical risks continue to support prices, while markets remain cautious ahead of the Fed\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udee2 Brent crude<\/strong> is holding near $101.60<\/strong> per barrel. Even after a slight pullback, oil remains a key inflation driver and continues to influence global market sentiment.<\/p>\n \u20bf Bitcoin<\/strong> is trading near $74,000<\/strong>, maintaining resilience despite macro uncertainty. Crypto markets remain highly sensitive to liquidity expectations and central bank\u00a0signals.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udcca Key events today:<\/strong> \u26a1 Bottom line:<\/strong> markets are pausing ahead of the Fed, not calming. The real volatility is likely to begin after the decision, with sharp moves possible across FX, commodities and\u00a0crypto.<\/p>\n Stay sharp, manage your risk, and catch the move with NordFX.<\/strong>\u00a0\ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n \ud83c\udf0d Morning Update: March 18, 2026 – Fed Day Tension<\/a> was originally published in Coinmonks<\/a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Markets are holding a cautious tone as traders await today\u2019s key central bank decisions. After recent volatility driven by geopolitical tensions and the surge in oil prices, risk sentiment is stabilising slightly, but overall uncertainty remains\u00a0high. \ud83c\uddef\ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf0\ud83c\uddf7 In Asia, markets moved higher. Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 gained around 2.5%, while TOPIX added more than 2%. South […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":142997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142996"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=142996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142996\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/142997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=142996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=142996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=142996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Bank of Canada<\/strong> decision will be followed by the Federal Reserve rate decision<\/strong> and Jerome Powell\u2019s press conference<\/strong> later in the US session. Markets expect rates to remain unchanged, but the tone will be decisive.<\/p>\n