Thursday was characterized by a great deal of volatility, with the VIX Index spiked 24% to reach a new high for 2013 at 20.38. The market selloff continued for most asset classes. The S&P 500 and the Dow were particularly hard-hit, seeing their worst day of the year and shedding close to 2.5% and 2.34%, respectively. Gold plunged to its lowest level since September 2010, and is down nearly 23% since the beginning of the year. Canadian and U.S. bonds also took a beating.
The big winner of the day was the USD, which turned in a standout performance. Since the beginning of last week, the greenback is up close to 200 pts against the CAD, 120 pts against the EUR and 240 pts against the GBP.
Range: 1.0350-1.0500