Following on from Friday’s losses we saw further weakness in equities and commodities to weigh on the risk FX pairs.
Led by USD/JPY, early consolidation across the majors soon evaporated, with the European banking sector leading losses in the Euro bourses while the energy stocks suffered on fresh falls in oil. Trading through the 116.00’s, we eventually took out the figure level, initially running into support below here. Large exotic out-strikes seen from 115.50-15.00. EUR/USD initially tested higher on early spot JPY sales, but EUR/JPY losses through 130.00 eventually dragged the respective USD rate back into the low 1.1100s. Bids here held firm, and even after an eventual breach of 1.1100, we were back higher again. Cross/JPY sales were a dominant force today. CAD losses stretched into the upper 1.3900s, but pre 1.4000 offers contained despite a sub $30.0 WTI. CAD/JPY stopped just shy of 83.00. Not a good day for GBP as EU fears return. Cable struggled ahead of 1.4500, falling back through the 1.4400s to 1.4350 through the day, but a large chunk of the flow looked to come through GBP/JPY, falling from pre-170.00 levels to sub 167.00. EUR/GBP managed to get within 4-5 ticks of the Jan peak at .7742. EM back on the rack, with the commodity related currencies faring the worst. MXN and ZAR losses stood out, closely followed by the RUB.