Headlines:
The fragile optimism in markets hangs in the balanceGold remains under pressure amid US-Iran stalemate; traders await new catalystsThe single chart for bitcoin long term investors shows bulls are fineJapan finance minister Katayama delivers another intervention warningFrance April flash services PMI 46.5 vs 48.5 expectedGermany April flash manufacturing PMI 51.2 vs 51.4 expectedEurozone April flash services PMI 47.4 vs 49.8 expectedUK March flash services PMI 52.0 vs 50.0 expectedUK industry sees business situation at the most pessimistic since the Covid pandemic
Markets:
Brent crude up 1.1% to $103.05, WTI crude up 1.2% to $94.13USD leads, NZD lags on the dayEquities lower in Europe, S&P 500 futures down 0.5%US 10-year yields up 2.7 bps to 4.323%Gold down 0.8% to $4,699, Silver down 4.0% to $74.60Bitcoin down 1.2% to $77,533
It was another tense session in Europe, with markets staying gripped by the US-Iran conflict. There weren’t any fresh developments as the next round of talks remain in limbo. The stalemate comes as Iran continues to grandstand in wanting the US to break its naval blockade before heading to the negotiating table.
In the meantime, the Strait of Hormuz remains in de facto closure and that is keeping the broader market mood on edge with the fragile optimism looking rather shaky at the moment.
Oil prices ramped higher again on the day with Brent crude up 1.1% to $103.05 and WTI crude up 1.2% to $94.13.
Even though stocks defied the worries yesterday, we are starting to see some nerves show today. That comes after a fake news scare in early Asia trading about Iran missiles, but that was enough to expose the fragile and frail optimism that the risk rally has been building on in the past week.
European indices are down across the board today with S&P 500 futures also seen down 0.5% currently. That signals a more cautious mood ahead of US trading later with Tesla earnings in focus.
In other markets, the dollar is sitting slightly higher and keeping gains from yesterday. EUR/USD is down 0.2% to 1.1680 and USD/JPY up 0.1% to 159.70 levels with the latter prompting verbal intervention from Tokyo again. Meanwhile, AUD/USD is down 0.3% to 0.7138 as the risk mood stays slightly on the defensive on the session.
Elsewhere, precious metals are also being hit with some selling as gold is down 0.8% to $4,699 and silver down 4.0% to $74.60 on the day.
It’s still all on US-Iran headlines until we get to the weekend from here.
This article was written by Justin Low at investinglive.com.