- Risk sentiment continues to be poor, with stock markets trading lower almost everywhere. The Korean KOSPI and Chinese HSI indices are reaching new multi-month lows, while US indices flirt with major breakdowns. However, the technology NASDASQ 100 index has seen major support at 14657 continue to hold.
- In the Forex market, the US Dollar is the strongest major currency, with the USD/JPY currency pair in focus as it rises to a new 11 month high with the Bank of Japan openly threatening intervention but failing to take any concrete action. The Japanese Finance Minister Suzuki stated a few hours ago that he “will take appropriate action against rapid FX moves”. The US Dollar has also reached long-term highs against the European currencies the EUR, GBP, and CHF with a very clear directional trend. Trend traders in the Forex market will be most interested in being long USD/JPY and short EUR/USD as these are the two major Dollar pairs which have historically tended to trend most reliably.
- Most commodities are trading lower in the current risk-off environment, with Gold, Silver, and Crude Oil all falling yesterday. A few soft commodities are mostly holding value, but none are breaking to new highs.
- Yesterday’s release of German IFO Business Climate data came in as expected.
- There will be a release of US CB Consumer Confidence data later today. It is expected to show a reading of 105.5.
Forex Today: US Dollar Higher, Stocks Lower
Adam Lemon
Solid risk-off sentiment continues to dominate markets, with the US Dollar continuing to advance against the Yen and European currencies, as most stock markets continue to trade lower.