Market sentiment analysis:
- Trader confidence is lacking at present, with traders opting for safe havens such as the Japanese Yen, the Swiss Franc, Gold and US Treasuries rather than stocks.
- However, there is no obvious reasons for the “risk off” tone, suggesting that sentiment could soon improve again.
Trade Smarter - Sign up for the DailyFX Newsletter
Receive timely and compelling market commentary from the DailyFX team
Traders opt for JPY, CHF, Gold and USTs
Traders have been buying so-called “risk off” assets such as the Japanese Yen, the Swiss Franc, Gold and US Treasuries as market sentiment has been adversely affected by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19 and evidence of an economic slowdown in China.
However, it is hard to see why events in Afghanistan should impact the markets and there is nothing new in either the spread of the coronavirus or the signs of a Chinese slowdown, suggesting the latest moves could be reversed shortly.
AUD/JPY Price Chart, Hourly Timeframe (August 11-17, 2021)
Source: IG (You can click on it for a larger image)
| Change in | Longs | Shorts | OI |
| Daily | -37% | -9% | -19% |
| Weekly | -13% | 7% | 1% |
In this webinar, I looked at the trends in the major currency, commodity and stock markets, at the forward-looking data on the economic calendar this week, at the IG Client Sentiment page on the DailyFX website, and at the IG Client Sentiment reports that accompany it.
--- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst
Feel free to contact me on Twitter @MartinSEssex
