US Market Wrap

After grinding higher for weeks, US equity markets and other risk assets finally had a mini correction.

The falls were most severe in the tech-heavy NASDAQ, which dropped by more than 5%. In some ways, tech was ripe for a pullback after much of the buying had been in the major tech names over the past few months which had lead to the index consistently pushing into record-high territory.

The majors such as the AUD/USD were also casualties of the risk-off sentiment, while interestingly we did see an improvement in the weekly jobless claims number that was sharply below 1 million.

The Data Agenda

Things are setting up for a big Friday with the bears taking back some control and the prospect of another important non-farm payrolls number.

The expectation is for over 1 million new jobs to have been created last month, however, we have also seen the ADP number miss badly this week. At the same time, the jobless rate is predicted to drop back under the 10% level.

We will also be getting jobs data out of Canada as well, so keep an eye on the USD/CAD as we head into the weekend.

Forex Signal Update

The FX Leaders Team hit 2 winners from 4 trades yesterday, as markets reversed sharply.

If the price action continues, keep watching the forex signals page as volatility will be high and there should be more opportunities ahead.

USD/CHF – Active Signal 

The USD/CHF is trending lower and we are short here, with a real risk-off sentiment in the air.

EUR/GBP – Active Signal 

The EUR/GBP has been grinding lower and we are short here as well.

Cryptocurrency Update

It’s fair to say, the cryptos have been absolutely decimated over the past 24 hours. ETH has collapsed to under $400 with falls of more than 20%.

BTC has faired no better dropping all the way back to $10,000. Clearly, there is such a strong link to the risk trade now, that we have a good leading indicator of what might be ahead when stocks get shaky.