Cryptocurrency prices crashed in the overnight session as the market worried about a new tax proposal by Joe Biden. According to Bloomberg, the president has suggested doubling the capital gains tax for the wealthy. US investors already face this tax if they hold their holdings for more than a year. Indeed, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has started putting more emphasis on this type of enforcement. Bitcoin declined briefly below $50,000 while other coins like Ether, XRP, and Dogecoin fell by more than 10%.

The Japanese yen was little changed against the US dollar after mild Japanese inflation data. According to the country's statistics agency, the headline consumer price index (CPI) rose from 0.1% in February to 0.2% in March. This pushed the annualized growth down to -0.2%. Core CPI improved from -0.4% to -0.1%. These numbers are significantly below the Bank of Japan target of 2%, meaning that the bank will have a difficult time abandoning the easy money policy. Meanwhile, data by Markit revealed that the manufacturing PMI rose from 52.7 in March to 53.3 in April.

The economic calendar will have some key events today. In the morning session, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) will publish the latest UK retail sales numbers. The median estimate by analysts is that the headline retail sales rose by 1.5% in March after rising by 2.1% in the previous month. On an annualized basis, the sales are expected to rise by 3.5%. Core retail sales are expected to rise by 4.5%. Markit will also publish key flash manufacturing figures from select countries like the US and the Eurozone. In the United States, we will receive the latest new home sales data.