Risk appetite continues to be hit as stocks and risky assets are sold as the year-end rally evaporates.
- The end of year risk-on rally has vanished, with stock markets falling since Friday and Bitcoin trading near the December low. Traders had hoped for a “Santa Claus rally” which would extend the strong gains made in stock markets over 2024. The Japanese Nikkei 225 is down on the day, while futures in the NASDAQ 100 and the S&P 500 are both trading lower.
- Bitcoin is looking weak and heavy and is not far from the low of December. If the price breaks down below $90,000 we could see a sharp fall to the $75,000 area as the gain from there after the election of President Trump was very rapid.
- In the Forex market, since today’s Tokyo open, the strongest currency has been the Japanese Yen while the weakest currency has been the New Zealand Dollar. The NZD/USD and AUD/USD currency pairs are booth looking heavy and trading very close to lows which, if crossed, would represent a major technical bearish breakdown. The EUR/USD currency pair and the USD/JPY currency pair remain within valid long-term bullish trends, with the EUR/USD again trading below $1.0400.
- Chinese Manufacturing PMI data came in as was widely expected.
- It is a public holiday today in Japan and Germany. Tomorrow will be a public holiday in most G20 nations with closed markets.
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