1. Canada’s Trudeau Accuses Iran of Downing the Ukrainian Plane
Canada’s PM, Justin Trudeau, cited intelligence from Canadian and other sources when he stated yesterday that Iran likely downed the Ukrainian plane with missiles. Early intelligence suggested that the Ukrainian Boeing jetliner that crashed after takeoff from Tehran airport was actually brought down and Iran was likely behind it; Ukraine’s president has also called on the US and its allies to share evidence. However, Iranian officials have thus far denied claims that they mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger jet.
2. Markets Continue Mostly Higher
Global bourses continued to edge mostly higher with Asian indices headed for a bullish close following the apparent easing of U.S.-Iran tensions, and after U.S. stocks shot to new highs overnight. President Donald Trump stated yesterday that the U.S. will not retaliate for the recent attacks on its military bases in Iraq but that they would “immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions” on Iran. Trump also called for Britain to reject a nuclear deal with Iran.
3. Gold Remains Subdued After Massive Sell-off
Gold prices were set for their worst week in 2 months amid easing tensions in the Middle East. The latest accusations against Iran that it was behind the downing of Ukrainian passenger jet might keep some on their toes but market participants are seemingly not concerned that this would be enough to reignite fears of a US/Iran war. XAU/USD was last seen trading near the $1550 level.
4. NFP to Affect the USD
Today, market participants will focus on the latest NFP report as the Department of Labor will release its employment numbers for December before the US market open. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect nonfarm payrolls to grow by 160,000 which would be a slowdown from November. Even if the numbers today come as expected still it would be the slowest growth since 2011 and down also from the year before. An unexpectedly weak NFP will push the USD lower as it would suggest that the U.S. long-standing trade wars, as well as the ongoing trade war and the tensions in the Middle East, are likely to threaten the U.S. economy and overall global demand.
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5. Oil Prices Dip
Oil prices continued to drop this morning extending days of losses as the threat of war in the Middle East seemingly receded, at least for now. Crude Oil WTI futures were last near $59 while Brent oil was close to $65 as of 9:45 GMT.
6. Bitcoin Tumbles
As most major cryptocurrencies continue to be seen as a legitimate form of alternative investment, leading coins continue to behave like safe-havens with market participants turning to cryptos whenever risk-aversion kicks in. Unsurprisingly, the crypto sphere took a hit yesterday, after President Trump appeared to be standing down from waging war against Iran. Today, digital currencies continued to nurse losses with BTC/USD tumbling to 7.7K and DASH dipping more than 5% to last trade near $50.
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Sources:
CNBC Jan 10, 2020 2:48 AM ET
Investing Jan 10, 2020 7:33 AM ET
Bloomberg Jan 10, 2020 6:45 AM ET
Reuters Jan 10, 2020 05:58 AM ET
