While stocks were the headline-makers yesterday, they mostly range-traded today taking a breather to think (even with a double-POMO) as the rest of the world's asset classes did their thing. The Dow closed at a new recxord highs but the Russell 2000, however, lost over half its gains from yesterday! Markets everywhere saw major moves... in no particular order, JPY carry trades disconnected from stocks (EURJPY fading) - until the last few minutes of failed ramp-levitation; 5Y Treasuries underperformed back to 3-month highs (up 11bps - the most in over 5 months) and the Treasury complex saw its biggest bear-flattening (5s30s) in over 2 years; WTI crude rose notably on the day , back above $99; and gold (and silver) was monkey-hammered to 40-month lows - with the biggest 2-day drop in 6 months. Following yesterday's smackdown, VIX initially followed through but as the day wore on, demand for protection grew and VIX closed higher... oh, and it's not all glee in stocks as internals today triggered another Hindenburg Omen.
Stocks were very mixed... (only the Dow green - new record high)
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But for gold (and silver) - it was a very ugly day... (gold closed at its 'average' price of the last 7 years and lowest since July 2010)
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Stocks got no support from JPY crosses once Europe closed...but were in great demand as algos tried to lift stocks to their highs into the close...
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And the afternoon saw VIX decouple as protection was bid...
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As it seems the high-beta honeys were not in vogue today as Russell 2000 gave back more than half yesterday's gains...
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Treasuries were clubbed...
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As the term structure flattened dramatically...
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The 5th closing Hindenburg Omen in the last 2 weeks...
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Charts: Bloomberg