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5 Jan 2016
Risk aversion dominated the first trading day of 2016 – RBC CM
FXStreet (Delhi) – Sue Trinh, Senior Currency Strategist at RBC CM, suggests that stocks were heavy (SHCOMP: -4%, HSI: -2.3%) and typically, JPY, USD, and EUR were among the outperformers while the USD/JPY slid below 120.00 (119.51, the lowest since October).
Key Quotes
“Meanwhile, commodity currencies bore the brunt of it, with NZD hardest hit (from 0.6844 to 0.6749) and AUD down from above 0.7300 to 0.7208. In AXJ, KRW was the worst performer (->1%) as USD/CNY gapped to a new cycle high toward 6.51 (central parity: 6.5032, from 6.4936) and USD/CNH traded above 6.61 from just under 6.57.”
“There was no specific catalyst for the price action, but rather a confluence of factors. Geopolitical concerns spiked on news that Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic ties with Iran and Iran’s Supreme Leader warning of “divine vengeance”, which drove further short covering in oil. Disappointing Chinese manufacturing PMIs (China) were an added drag on investor sentiment while recent price action has also caught the short-term systematic community wrong-footed, particularly in NZD, AUD, and DXY.”
Key Quotes
“Meanwhile, commodity currencies bore the brunt of it, with NZD hardest hit (from 0.6844 to 0.6749) and AUD down from above 0.7300 to 0.7208. In AXJ, KRW was the worst performer (->1%) as USD/CNY gapped to a new cycle high toward 6.51 (central parity: 6.5032, from 6.4936) and USD/CNH traded above 6.61 from just under 6.57.”
“There was no specific catalyst for the price action, but rather a confluence of factors. Geopolitical concerns spiked on news that Saudi Arabia severed its diplomatic ties with Iran and Iran’s Supreme Leader warning of “divine vengeance”, which drove further short covering in oil. Disappointing Chinese manufacturing PMIs (China) were an added drag on investor sentiment while recent price action has also caught the short-term systematic community wrong-footed, particularly in NZD, AUD, and DXY.”