Japan's Nikkei share average falls more than 2 pct after US says Iran launched missiles - Reuters

Ross J Burland FXStreet

Japan's Nikkei share average falls more than 2 pct after US says Iran launched missiles against US forces in Iraq as Reuters news reports in the open.

USD/JPY declines 40 pips to 108 as Iran takes revenge of Soleimani's killing by the US

In an update to this article, some time passed the initial posting, markets remain in extreme risk-off mode following the reports of the Iran attack and the Nikkei is -1.5% at the time of writing.

At the open, we had the ASX 200 down 45.239 points at 6781.6, the JGB 10-Yr future up 26 ticks at 152.39, yield down 1.2 basis points (bp) at -0.016%, the Aussie 10-year future up 7.5 ticks at 98.840, yield down 7.6bp at 1.14% and U.S. 10-year future up 0-22 ticks at 129-27, yield down 6.95bp at 1.7499%. Also in response to the attack, we had the WTI crude up $2.00 at $64.71, Gold up $25.15 at $1598.81 and USD/JPY down 58 pips at Y107.86.

Author

Ross J Burland

FXStreet

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

EUR/USD looks to regain the 200-day SMA

EUR/USD regains some balance and trade just above 1.1600 the figure ahead of the opening bell in Asia. The pair initially dipped to the 1.1530 zone for the first time since November, always following the stronger US Dollar and the marked flight-to-safety in the context of the ongoing Middle East crisis

GBP/USD slips below key averages as geopolitical risks mount

GBP/USD fell about 0.35% on Tuesday, settling around 1.3350 after slipping below the 200-day Exponential Moving Average for the first time since early December. The pair has pulled back sharply from its late-January high near 1.3870, shedding over 500 pips in a series of lower highs and lower lows.

Gold bounces off lows, back above $5,100

Gold remains on the defensive, eroding part of the recent multi-day advance and managing to trade back above the $5,100 mark per troy ounce on Tuesday. The precious metal initially dropped just below the critical $5,000 threshold on the back of the persistent strength of the Greenback, higher US Treasury yields across the curve and investors' repricing of Fed rate cuts.