It goes without saying that everyone was expecting a quiet night on markets, with the US cash sessions closed and futures markets only part trading. European markets have lacked any kind of a pulse, but things do get a tad spicier this week with the event risk increasing, although, still unlikely to really kick life […]

For index traders, its all eyes on the ASX 200 today, with Aussie SPI futures sitting 15-points higher from the ASX 200 close. We should, therefore, see the index open above 7000, and subsequently, the 7k party is real, and we test the top of the GFC channel, posing the question whether to fade the […]

Its interesting that we’ve seen a sizeable pickup in FX carry exposures, with traders eyeing the low volatility (vol) environment and effectively looking to be paid to be in positions. This seems fair given the Teflon nature of markets and the ability to shrug off any vol events – however, we also should consider the […]

Vacation and quality time away from markets can be your best friend in trading, and you simply can’t put a price on achieving a correct mindset and the energy needed to keep one’s sanity in the constant slog of interpreting news and the cause and effect. Big Week That said, trying to pay limited attention […]

With traders running the rule under 2019, I thought I’d take a moment to put some perspective on the moves we have seen in 2019 and a brief look ahead at what is expected in 2020. Its been a mad year in markets, and I turn to this multi-asset market performance chart, where I think […]

On my week ahead video, I look at weekly implied volatility in G10 FX and other heavily traded instruments – where everything, at that time looked calm and collected. Shock, GBP vols have rocketed higher here and I wanted to highlight this to traders, as the market is now saying the UK election this week […]

In his latest ‘Week Ahead video, Pepperstone Market Analyst Chris Weston casts his eye over the key events over the next 7 days and beyond, as well noting the key markets that might react to this news. From elections to tariffs, we explore where prices will be affected. In this video, Chris discusses: USD Forex […]

Nothing has really changed in the Fed’s liquidity operations through its T-bill purchases, and that continues to support risk. However, in the absence of the highly anticipated improvement in US manufacturing, and a market that was long of risk and incredibly short volatility – the fact, then, that Trump seemingly got out of the wrong […]

It’s a good day to be long the NZD and the bird has found its mojo, flying high against all major currencies, notably vs the CAD (NZDCAD +1.4%). NZDUSD was well traded as price smashed through the 0.6450 ceiling, pushing to the highest levels since 7 August. The combination of a solid rise in NZ […]

As election fever hits the UK our flow in GBP, and to a lesser extent UK100, has certainly perked up, and so has the love for UK assets, where GBP is finding buyers easy to come from market participants. I flag several set-ups below, but I guess the question now is whether to chase the […]