Range Breaks Keep Trends in Tact

Weaker equity markets across the continent and in US futures space contrasted with the moves in the likes of AUD, NZD and GBP Monday, which all hit new multi-year highs against the USD as underlying positivity in risk sentiment (evident in roaring commodities) kept the ball rolling.

• GBP/USD has now traded higher for 11 of the past 13 sessions, with the outlining of the UK's plans to emerge from Coronavirus restrictions being received positively by the market. The UK PM Johnson laid out June 21st as the date to watch for all legal limits on social restrictions to be removed.
• AUD was buoyed by persistent and continued strength in commodities, with WTI and Brent bouncing as much as 3%, while copper hit new decade highs. The Bloomberg Commodities Index reflected the sentiment, touching the best levels since late 2018.
• Implied vol reflected the break to new highs in many developed markets, with front-end vol contracts in USD/JPY and USD/CHF posting the most notable gains.
• Focus Tuesday turns to the UK jobs numbers for January, final Eurozone CPI readings and the February US consumer confidence release.