The yen lags as hopes of global central bank stimulus draws some attention
There are gaps almost everywhere in the market today but most - if not all - were already filled in early hours trading with risk initially taking a heavy hit as coronavirus fears deepened after abysmal China PMI data over the weekend.
The number of cases worldwide also continued to rise with countries all over the world still taking strict measures to try and contain the outbreak.
But as we talks and hopes of global central bank stimulus crept in, it is helping to alleviate some pressure off the market for the moment at least. Asian equities moved higher with US futures also sitting up by ~0.5% currently.
USD/JPY recovered from a move towards 107.00 to sit above 108.25 currently. Meanwhile, the likes of the aussie and kiwi also closed their respective gaps lower but the latter is still trading slightly lower against the dollar on the day.
It's been a tricky and volatile start to the week with the market having to figure out whether this is just a dead cat bounce or a potential V-shape recovery amid an overreaction in the past week or so.
I reckon we can't know the answer for sure - as of yet - with the economic ramifications of the virus outbreak continuing to present so much doubts to investors.
But as long as the virus continues to spread more rapidly and countries everywhere continue to take it as serious as it is now, it is hard to see those fears dissipate completely for good over the next few days/weeks.
