- Late sell off on oil and S&P in NY as positions squared up before long weekend- both finished the day down around 3% (see NY wrap)
- Sydney market opened in full risk-aversion mode- EUR/JPY falling from it’s NY closing level at 134.25 to 133.55 in a matter of minutes
- Prospect of large bids at 1.3900/20 in EUR/USD (presumed to be from large Asian sovereign player) helped settle the market. (Watch now for trailing stops above 1.4015/25 and again above the post NFP high at 1.4070).
- Asian stock markets opened lower, but only by around 1%, and the threat of a major risk aversion play started to recede.
- EUR/JPY could not break below technical support at 133.50 even though there were said to be significant stops below 133.40 and again below 132.80.
- AUD/USD briefly broke below its medium term bullish trend line but could not follow through
- Cable is tied in by large sell orders at 1.6410/20 and strong bids at 1.6320 and again at 1.6280 (the latter said to be from the large Asian player). Heavy stops are eyed below 1.6250.
- Californian budget turmoil undermines faith in USD
- North Korea continues to raise regional tensions with further missile launches
Markets: Nikkei -1.3%, HK -0.5%, Sydney -1.4%, Kospi -0.4%, Shanghai +0.3%. Gold steady at $940/oz; oil holding below $67/bbl.
Ranges: EUR/USD 1.3938/95; EUR/JPY 133.54/134.35; USD/JPY 95.71/96.05; AUD/USD .7906/68; cable 1.6327/88.
Have a great weekend.
