Barney Frank gave the market a brief reprieve but stocks are diving again, with the S&P down over 20 points. Risk trades are under pressure once again as JPY crosses and commodity currencies trade near session lows. EUR/US is back below the 1.4100 level
USD/JPY is being weighed down by risk aversion, unwinding of carry trades and another sharp fall in US interest rtaes today. Signs that the US rebound is sputtering (like the big jump in jobless clais today) combined with movey being moved from equity into bonds, is behind the move.
Gold is back below 1100, now at 1096 and oil hovers near $76.00. Optimism is greatly in deficit today as the US reacts to new bank rules, Europe deals with the risk of a Greek debt crisis and Asia contends with the potential for China to overheat. No place to hid on a day like today (except maybe Switzerland, but francs ain’t cheap at the moment….).