Key Points:

US jobless claims worse than expected at 884K vs 846K expected

US indices all close down on the day, Nasdaq -2%

GBP dumped over 2% on EU/UK Brexit tensions

The current swings continue with markets at a crossroads as I highlighted earlier this week. After a somewhat positive risk on session for Asia and early Europe we saw futures point to gains on Wall St., however the day saw a roller coaster ride of up and down swings but ended in another bloodbath with Nasdaq down 2%, S&P500 down 1.75% and the DJ off 1.45% on the day. The USD gained overall after a similar roller coaster ride. Cable the headline massacre with the EU/UK at loggerheads over the current Brexit deal and the UK’s intention to break part of the agreement saw the pair from 1.3035 to 1.2775 marking its biggest one day fall for 6 months. The ECB’s Lagarde gave EUR bulls something to get their teeth into during her post rate decision presser by dismissing the EUR/USD exchange rate triggering a rally to highs just short of 1.1920 before falling over a big figure as the greenback rallied. Commodity currencies were the first to turn after an initial spike on the worse print from the jobless claims as USD/CAD fell to 1.3120 and AUD retest key resistance at 0.7325, however as risk assets turned back lower aggressively they closed lower on the day vs the USD. Gold having jumped as high as 1966 on the jobless data fell back to close almost unchanged at $1945 and WTI slipped once again to $37. Expect further pressure on Asian indices today especially the ASX which has shown further signs of weakness in the last week having been capped ahead of 6200 at the beginning of the month. Asia has no data of note but later we will see UK GDP, trade and industrial production data but the main focus will be on the political standoff. Tonight’s US CPI print should keep markets contained until the release when we could see some more fireworks for the end of the week.