Currencies
EUR/USD – trades near the lowest level since December 2002 and we can say a 14 year low! When news about the attack in Berlin broke we saw the EUR weaken further. The stronger data out of Germany was not really able to lift the EUR as the USD also strengthened over the course of the day, in part also due to some positive comments from FED Chair Yellen mainly concerning the US job market.
USD/JPY – initially strengthened due to insecurity and safe haven buying when back to back news about the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey and a few hours later the terror attack in Berlin. However, it has already pared all of yesterday’s losses after the BOJ kept both the interest rate as well as monetary policy unchanged as was expected. It did upgrade its outlook for the Japanese economy, in part helped due to the weaker JPY which should spur exports.
GBP/USD – dropped to the lowest level in a month as renewed concerns over the repercussion of the Brexit vote are in focus again. Scotland plans to hold a new referendum on separating from the UK if it is unable to remain part of the EU single market due to the Brexit.
AUD/USD – the RBA keeps the possibility open for further monetary easing as it kept the interest rate unchanged at the last meeting.
USD/TRY – when news broke that the Russian ambassador in Turkey was shot in Ankara, immediate weakness in the TRY could be witnessed.
Indices
DAX 30 – saw some downside when reports on the terror attack in Berlin filtered through. However, it is moving up again this morning and is trading near the highest level since August 2015.
S&P 500 – even though it twice dropped due to geopolitical events, the assassination of the Russian ambassador in Turkey and the terror attack in Berlin, it managed to recover quite quickly and managed to close the day higher and is continuing this trend today.
Commodities
Gold – we would expect to see gold move higher, which is did but only marginally, even though there were enough reasons for gold to move higher due to the events of yesterday. However, USD strength filtered through and hampered gold from taking full advantage.
Oil – is looking for a direction as it swings back and forth a little bit. We will be waiting to see what will happen with the inventories and production in the US and obviously we can always expect comments on the commitment of OPEC members to really follow through on cutting production.
Stocks
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) – as was widely expected, Apple filed an appeal to the EU Commission decision from august that the company received tax breaks amounting to up to €13 billion.
Boeing (NYSE:BA) – announced that it will be cutting more jobs than previously thought as it sees demand for aircraft slow down. On the other hand, Airbus suffered a blow as well as Iran decided not to purchase any Airbus A380’s and reduced the order to “only” 100 aircraft of different types. Perhaps Boeing could benefit from this?