The move by the World Bank to downgrade it’s global economic growth forecast continues to reverberate in the markets, with Asian stocks getting hit hard overnight. The main beneficiary of the heightened risk aversion has been the yen. USD/JPY is down at 95.25 from a North American close Monday around 95.90, while EUR/JPY is down at 132.10 from around 132.90.
Nouriel Roubini told a conference in Paris yesterday that the global economy may suffer another slump due to the potential “double whammy” of rising oil prices and widening budget deficits.
U.S. trade representative Ron Kirk is to give a press conference later today (13:15 GMT). US and EU are widely expected to announce a WTO case against China over its’ export restrictions on raw materials. The development is only serving to ratchet up risk aversion further.
