April 19, 2024 09:01 GMT
Volatility Spike Fades as Israel Strike Seen as Limited in Nature
FOREX
- Markets underwent a significant volatility spike overnight on Friday, as news that Israel had launched missile strikes on Iran underpinned concerns of renewed geopolitical risk in the Middle-East. Risk sold off sharply, putting the USD on the front foot, equities lower and the JPY markedly higher. Emerging markets currencies came under particular pressure, with the MXN among the most exposed to stop-loss selling to send the USD/MXN pair briefly higher by 6.7%.
- The market impact didn't stick, with the missile strike appearing limited in nature and closer to a warning shot rather than a declaration of protracted hostilities. As such, markets bottomed out to put USD/JPY ~80 pips above the overnight low and the greenback comfortably below the overnight highs.
- Headed into the NY crossover, markets are more sanguine. CHF is the firmest currency in G10, prompting another multi-month high in CHF/JPY. We wrote yesterday that this week's constructive price action in the cross turns focus to recent highs at 170.81. Japanese intervention risks naturally remain a concern for fresh longs, however the still historically low levels of realised vol in JPY could calm these concerns (one-week realised vols remain ~3 points below the rolling 12m average).
- There are no notable data releases set for Friday, keeping focus on the central bank speaker slate. BoE's Ramsden makes an appearance for the first time in 2024, while Fed's Goolsbee, ECB's Nagel and BoE's Mann follow.
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