Here's what you need to know for Thursday, March 31:

Despite the risk-averse market atmosphere, the dollar continued to weaken against its rivals on Wednesday, and the US Dollar Index fell more than 0.5% before moving into the consolidation phase earlier on Thursday. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the Personal Consumption Spending (PCE) Price Index, the Fed's preferred indicator of inflation, along with Personal Income and Personal Spending Figures for February. Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims will also be included in the US economic file. In the second half of the day, end-of-month/quarter-end flows may also increase the activity in the market. Finally, OPEC's full ministerial meeting will take place later in the day.

Breaking News on War

While markets were hopeful for a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine conflict after Tuesday's talks, Wednesday's headlines forced investors to be cautious. A Kremlin spokesperson said they did not notice anything that could be considered a "breakthrough" in their negotiations with Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine noted that Russian forces are preparing to resume offensive operations, and the Pentagon stated that Russia has begun to reposition only 20% of the troops deployed around Kyiv.

In the Stock Exchange Today

Earlier in the day, data from China showed that business activity in the manufacturing and services sectors contracted in March. The AUD/USD and NZD/USD pairs came under modest bearish pressure after these data and fell during Asian stock hours.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) bought unlimited 10-year Japanese government bonds (JGB) at 0.25 percent for the fourth day in a row on Thursday. After closing the previous two trading days in negative territory, USD/JPY rallied in Asia, but fell below 122.00 on European morning.

GBP/USD fell to 1.3100 earlier in the day but regained its momentum on optimistic data. The UK's Office for National Statistics reported on Thursday that its Gross Domestic Product Data grew 6.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter, beating the flash estimate and market expectation of 6.5%.

EUR/USD clings to modest daily gains above 1.1150 early Thursday after posting impressive gains in the previous two days. Germany's Destatis announced that Retail Sales rose 0.3% month-on-month in February, compared to analysts' forecast of 0.5%.

Gold fell to $1,920 during Asian trading hours on Thursday, but the benchmark erased some of its daily losses as the 10-year US Treasury yield reversed and lost nearly 1% on the day.

Bitcoin continues to fluctuate in a tight range around $47,000 for the second day in a row on Thursday. Ethereum struggled to find direction on Wednesday and remained relatively quiet in the early hours of Thursday near $3,400.

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