Well, it is surely one of those days when you just have to see all rays of the light! The kick start was extensively bearish from Asia led by the political tension in Japan alongside the surging yen and most dominantly the slowing manufacturing sector expansion in China!
Fear extended to choke Europe, as it is the norm in the recent period, over the extending downside pressures on growth due to austerity measures to stave off default woes and spreading pessimism.
With the start of the days we did in fact see Asian and European equities in deep red, while the euro hit a new low in this crisis at $1.2109. Yet, with North America joining the market, the US and Canada wiped off the blues as if the morning was not here!
The US market opened in the green following the long weekend, where currently the Dow Jones Industrial Average is trading higher by around 0.65% at 10,202.83. The shaky and downbeat sentiment was dismissed for now following the strong acceleration in US manufacturing sector, which assured that the sovereign debt crisis is not offset the recovery in the world’s biggest economy.
The manufacturing sector in May expanded at a faster than expected pace holding at its strongest levels in six years. The good news was sided by the biggest rise in construction spending since 2000 which supports the recovery as the sector finds strength.
The dollar index reversed its early gains on the eased woes as US stocks rose and European markets started to trim the losses. The index again held to its set high at 87.46 failing to breach through the resistance area for the third consecutive attempt. The index turned bearish surrendering earlier gains and setting a new low at 86.15 and currently holding around 86.39 slightly below opening levels.
The US was not the only surprise, yet Canada had its part of the cake as well! The BoC committed to their stance despite the spreading woes over the European debt crisis, and though investors feared at the last minute that the BoC will not raise rates, they surely were up to the task.
This last minute change of heart and the heavy bearishness in the market took the loonie in a strong decline versus the dollar, where the USDCAD surged to set the high of 1.0561 though with the BoC decision to hike rates to 0.50% they are now the first G7 nation to reverse the monetary easing surely added by the strong recovery which set 6.1% expansion in the first quarter. Loonie reclaimed its losses and took the pair south to set a new low at 1.0417 and currently the pair is trading slightly higher than opening levels at 1.0454.
The euro rebounded strongly from 1.21 areas and is currently flat off strong support areas that helped the single currency cover some of its losses. The pair is currently trading at 1.2300 areas and nearly flat after being pressured up from heavy overselling pressure. Sterling was no different and joined the rebound across assets where it managed to set a new high for the day at 1.4721 and still holding high around 1.4692 off earlier set lows at 1.4436.