Forexlive Americas FX news wrap: FX shrugs off rout in equities

Markets

• Gold up $28 to 8-month high at $1897
• US 10-year yields down 7 bps to 1.97%
• WTI crude oil down $1.87 to $91.79
• S&P 500 down 93 points to 4381
• Nasdaq down 2.9%
• JPY leads, CAD lags

Someone wake up the FX market.

It was a rough day in the equity market and Treasury yields sank but the FX market generally watched from the sidelines. There was some yen buying but nothing on the scale of what you would expect with a 3% decline in the Nasdaq. GBP/JPY barely finished lower on the day and AUD/USD was flat.

Some of that reflects diminishing expectations of a 50 basis point cut from the FOMC in March (despite Bullard’s best efforts) but there’s also idiosyncratic selling in tech stocks.

Ukraine jitters intensified in Asia after shelling among separatists and Ukrainian government forces. However the big FX blips on that were quickly erased and FX did little from there. It wasn’t until very late in the day that the commodity currencies sold off, despite softening commodity prices.

Gold continued to shin, hitting an 8-month high and rising above $1900 briefly. The evidence is growing that it’s breaking out from a long-term consolidation pattern.

The market is clearly on edge here but this was an especially unusual day. We would normally see a better tone with yields falling but the selling in stocks was almost systematic. A fumbling appearance from ARKK CEO Cathie Wood didn’t help. Her ETF fell nearly 7% on the day.