Morning Lads,

Just when we thought North Korea had passed us by, sure enough, they’re back. Markets got a jolt after North Korea's foreign minister declared that the nation can shoot down U.S. warplanes. While the rhetoric was really just more of the same, it did enough to stir up the safe-havens and weaken stocks.

Gold spiked higher as did the traditional safe-haven currencies with money flowing towards the JPY and CHF. Stocks were weaker however it was the Nasdaq that was the major index that felt the brunt.

DXY Still Strong

While the safe-havens are coming and going at the moment, of most interest to me is how the USD is reacting. Interestingly it was quite strong despite all the turmoil. After the FOMC brought forward plans to hike rates, I suspected it might be stronger than anticipated.

That leaves me to think that there are more opportunities for buying the USD if we can push through this resistance level on the DXY. At the very least we are putting in a solid base for the time being.

US Dollar Index – 240 min Chart

Top Economic Data at a Glance

Tuesday

USD – Consumer Confidence

Wednesday

USD – Durable Goods & Pending Home Sales

Thursday

NZD – RBNZ Interest Rate Decision

EUR – Business Confidence

EUR – German CPI

USD – GDP

Friday

JPY – Unemployment

EUR – German Unemployment

GBP – GDP

EUR – Inflation

USD – Chicago PMI and Michigan Consumer Confidence