Australian Dollar

By Chris Becker  A modest night on risk markets with the NASDAQ slipping again with not much conviction on other stock markets either as the USD strengthened against some of the major currency pairs.

by Chris Becker Risk markets are still in divergent mode, not helped by the long weekend here in Asia for Singapore and Japan, with reaction to Trump’s executive orders muted.

by Chris Becker The reaction from Friday nights headline US unemployment figures has been modest so far in currency land on the post-weekend open here in Asia, partially due to long weekends for Japan and Singapore.

By Chris Becker  Another US unemployment print in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic passes by with big swings again, with the internal picture still looking woeful, yet Wall Street loved it and pushed to new highs, although tech stocks wobbled.

by Chris Becker Risk is taking a nosedive going into the afternoon session here in Asia in the wake of Trump’s executive order around another Chinese app, with USD coming back against most of the undollars and stock markets getting very nervous before tonight’s US unemployment print (NFP).

By Chris Becker  Another record high on Wall Street, pushing the risk complex even higher and really starting to diverge from other global stock markets that are doing a better job at discounting risk through the pandemic.

by Chris Becker Outside Australia, Asian stock markets are in retreat mode after being mixed yesterday as confidence fades going into tomorrow night’s NFP print, with all risk going into undollars like Yuan, Bitcoin and Yen and of course precious metals.

By Chris Becker  Another record high on Wall Street, pushing the risk complex to yet more stretched valuations as gold also makes another daily record high above the $2000USD per ounce level, with silver outshining with a near 5% gain to be above the $27USD per ounce level.

By Chris Becker  Another solid night on Wall Street but it was overshadowed by the breaking of the $2000USD per ounce barrier by gold in a late surge that also took silver above the $26USD per ounce level.

DXY was down last night as EUR popped: The Australian dollar caught the bid again: As gold went wow: WTI is pressing higher but Brent is stuck fast: Metals MOAR: Big miners were soft: EMs stocks pushed for breakout: With junk: As US yields crumbled: US stocks piled it on.

by Chris Becker The trading week finally gathers pace here in Asia with the strong lead on Wall Street converting into broad gains across the risk complex.

DXY rebounded last night but it was not convincing: The Australian dollar fell but it wasn’t convincing, either: Gold held the gains: WTI popped: Dirt was OK: Miners too: EM stocks are marking time: Junk eased: US yields rose!

By Chris Becker  You can’t beat the optimism out of Wall Street which surged again on tech stocks exuberance, this time on Microsoft taking over TikTok, plus a big beat in US manufacturing conditions.

by Chris Becker A very mixed start to the trading week here in Asia with share markets all over the place given the strong lead on Wall Street combined with the inversion of strength in the USD.

Not that this matters much for the deficit, which is now irrelevant, but it will matter to the Australian dollar.

Australian dollar gold is at all-time highs this morning: Australian gold equities are matching the bull market: But note that equities usually very much overshoot the underlying metal before the bull market is done.

By Chris Becker  The very interesting divergence on global stock markets continued on Friday night with Wall Street going gaga for tech stock earnings while the rest of the civilized world took a deep breath and realised that COVID-19 troubles are not going away, with steep falls across the remainder of the risk complex.

DXY rallied Friday night for once but the technical damage appears to have been done.

by Chris Becker A very rough finish to the week here in Asia with sharp falls on most share markets, replicating the falls in Europe but not Wall Street overnight.

These kinds of forecasts hang on continued “risk on” flows but they are no longer incredible: NAB has raised its forecasts for all G10 currencies including the Australian dollar.

It’s swift becoming a DXY tank for the ages.

By Chris Becker  An interesting divergence on stock markets overnight as European bourses tanked, falling in line with the falls in 2Q German GDP and increase in Eurozone unemployment, but Wall Street rallied despite the biggest single quarter decline in US GDP history, proving that markets do not equal economics!

by Chris Becker The mood is mixed again here in Asia despite a small surge overnight on Wall Street as the Federal Reserve re-engaged its dovish narrative.

DXY continues its unapologetic free-fall: The Australian dollar is getting blown sky high: Gold wow: Oil meh: Metals ramping: Miners ride on: EM stocks breaking out: Junk too: Yields crushed!