It would have been the worst streak since May 2012 but thanks to a damp squib of a day, the S&P (and other US equity indices) managed to hold on to gains in another 'spikey' day's trading in stocks. USD strength (on EUR and JPY weakness) spooked gold and silver modestly (with gold underperforming) as copper rallied to recouple with them on the week. WTI lifted very quietly to $103. Treasury yields lifted very gently higher all day ending +1 to 2bps only. Once again, the S&P found resistance at the pre-Un-Taper levels from last week and was sold quickly on recovering that level and the Dow remains below pre-Summers-Out levels. All-in-all a very quiet day as individual names from JNY to JCP and from MBI to HTZ caught all the attention.
S&P futures snapped higher into the close - as if by magic - drawn to a VWAP close...
[4]
but it is interesting to note the dispersion of sectors from the "Summers Out" close...
[5]
10Y yields traded in a 3bps range on the day...
[6]
FX markets saw the USD pressed higher as EUR, GBP, and JPY weakened...
[7]
With the self-help calls this morning coming at a time of a few headlines from Washington the action in US equities was dominated by the rip-and-dip...
[8]
The question is... are equity managers unwinding longer-dated (DEC) VIX protection AND reducing their underlying equity exposure? or just taking profits on steepeners INTO the debt-ceiling debacle (which seems unlikely given the levels)...
[9]
Charts: Bloomberg