The yen and franc ended up outperforming the dollar, just by a little
Risk-off trades in the currencies space were the biggest gainers but amid the volatility that we have seen, the dollar pretty much shares top spot with the yen and franc. I mean, it's not like we don't get 1% daily swings in this kind of environment.
The pound was initially among the biggest losers as well with cable cratering to its lowest levels since 1985 but has since found value buyers to drag it off the floor.
But considering the risk backdrop and economic challenges faced by the world, the aussie and the kiwi were the major laggards despite a bit of improvement in the last week.
Although the snapshot shows big changes, it belies the volatility in the market and the swings that we have seen over the past few weeks. AUD/USD traded in a 624 pips range for the whole of last year but has already traded in a 1,514 pips range in Q1 2020 alone.
Even last year's deadbeat currency pair, EUR/USD, traded in a 859 pips range in the first three months of the year as opposed to the 691 pips range seen for the entirety of 2019.
Anyway, here's a snapshot of other markets during the course of Q1:
- S&P 500 -20%
- Nasdaq -14%
- Dow Jones -23%
- DAX -25%
- CAC 40 -26%
- FTSE 100 -25%
- FTSE MIB -27%
- Nikkei -20%
- Hang Seng -17%
- CSI 300 -10%
- Gold +4%
- Oil (WTI) -66%
- US Treasury 10-year yields down 125 bps to 0.67%
