Risk aversion continued to permeate the marketplace in the NY session and the lack of any top tier economic news made for some range-bound price action. US equities plunged -2.4% and the S&P closed back below the Ichimoku cloud top which lurks near 818 here. This keeps the focus lower for stocks in the days ahead. Gold managed to eke out a $14 rally into the 880/882 zone and closed back above its 100-day moving average to boot.

The price action in FX was rather lackluster, with many of the major moves having already taken place in the London session. EUR/USD was pretty much unchanged in NY trading and sitting by 1.3260/70 near the close. The yen crosses edged a touch higher despite the selling in equities. USD/JPY recovered a modest 20 pips to 100.30/40 while EUR/JPY was about 30 points higher near the 133.10/20 area. Cable reversed prior session losses, jumping 85 pips towards the 1.4730 level.

The price action in commodity currencies was bewildering as they managed to rally despite the dip in oil prices to just above $49/bbl. AUD/USD added a rather modest 20 pips to a touch above 0.7100 support while USD/CAD sank about -90 pips towards the 1.2370/75 area. Australian consumer confidence is due up now in the Asia session and a major improvement after the March -0.2% decline could see AUD extend gains here. Stay tuned!

Upcoming Economic Data Releases (Asia Session) prior  expected

  • 4/7 23:01 GMT UK  Nationwide Consumer Confidence  MAR  43  45
  • 4/7 23:01 GMT UK  NIESR GDP Estimate  MAR  -1.80%  - -
  • 4/7 23:50 GMT JN  Current Account Total  FEB  -Â¥172.8B  Â¥1034.3B
  • 4/7 23:50 GMT JN  Adjusted Current Account Total  FEB  Â¥258.0B  Â¥508.8B
  • 4/7 23:50 GMT JN  Trade Balance - BOP Basis  FEB  -Â¥844.4B  Â¥125.0B
  • 4/8 0:30 GMT AU  Westpac Consumer Confidence  APR  -0.20%  - -
  • 4/8 1:30 GMT AU  Home Loans  FEB  3.50%  2.00%
  • 4/8 1:30 GMT AU  Investment Lending  FEB  -3.80%  - -
  • 4/8 1:30 GMT AU  Value of Loans MoM  FEB  2.30%  - -
  • 4/8 4:30 GMT JN  Bankruptcies (YoY)  MAR  10.40%  - -
  • 4/8 5:00 GMT JN  BOJ Monthly Report  7-Apr  
  • 4/8 5:00 GMT JN  Eco Watchers Survey: Current  MAR  19.4  20.9
  • 4/8 5:00 GMT JN  Eco Watchers Survey: Outlook  MAR  26.5  - -