Key Points
- U.S. equity markets hammered on Friday, weakness continues in Globex
- Currency markets quiet amid the equity market carnage
- Market moving to a strong “risk off” posture
Bias: Risk off
Commentary
U.S. stocks were hammered Friday, pressured by news that Texas and Florida will close bars again amid the rising Corona Virus cases and on news that Fed bank stress testing will result in U.S. banks capping dividends and stock buy backs. This saw the DJIA end down 700+ points. Afterhours trade wasn’t any better either, with equities continuing to get hit.
Currencies were quiet on Friday, acting like a deer in the headlights amid the carnage on U.S. equities. U.S. data was largely shrugged off as being mixed to slightly weaker. The risk off boas saw the AUD, NZD and CAD all underperform, while U.K. markets remain moribund amid the lack of certainty around Brexit.
Commodities moved as would be expected amid “risk off” with oil coming back slightly, while gold rose slightly.
Bias
Expect the usual quiet Monday start to the week today, with players expected to take stock after the huge spike in U.S. equity volatility overnight. Data sees Japanese Retail Sales, German and Spanish CPI and U.S. Pending Home sales