- Trump Delays threat to attack Iranian power plants
- Trump’s 7:00 am tweet roils markets
- The US dollar is churning in early NY trading
USDCAD open: 1.3748, overnight range 1.3685-1.3753, close 1.3725, WTI 98.87, Gold 4257.23
The Canadian dollar rallied in NY trading after Trump backed off his weekend threat to “obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST.”
Prior to Trump’s Truth Social post, Asian and European markets bought US dollars and sold stocks on elevated risk aversion due to fears that the Iran crisis would worsen. Trump may have felt the say way because at at 7:05 am.
USDCAD dropped from its overnight peak to 1.3685 on the news.
WTI oil prices climbed to 101.66 after Trump gave Iran a 48-hour deadline (It ends at 7:15 pm tonight) to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Then prices plunged to 84.59 after Trump’s 5-day delay. We’ve heard from Trump, but the Iranian’s have not said anything, yet.
Trump and Iran will keep traders on edge as optimists battle with pessimists.
Asian equity indices are negative. Japan’s Topix plummeted by 3.41%, while the Hong Kong Hang Seng dropped by 3.54%. Australia’s ASX fell 0.74%.
As of 7:15 am, European bourses are still negative. The German DAX is down 1.97%, the UK FTSE 100 is down 2.26%, and the French CAC 40 has lost 1.85%. S&P 500 futures have soared by 2.04%, the 10-year Treasury yield dropped from its overnight peak of 4.46% to 4.302%, and the DXY fell from 100.15 to 99.37. Gold (XAUUSD) bounced from 4099.55 to 4367.19.
EURUSD traded in a 1.1488–1.1565 range before surging to 1.1618 after Trump’s tweet sparked buying. The move comes as ECB officials grow increasingly concerned that rising energy costs will stoke inflation, with recent commentary pointing toward potential rate hikes. Governing Council member Gabriel Makhlouf flagged the possibility of an April move, a view reinforced by Joachim Nagel.
GBPUSD moved between 1.3270 and 1.3344, initially dropping before rebounding to 1.3334 in the wake of Trump’s comments. The UK outlook has darkened after KPMG warned that the Iran conflict and higher energy prices could drag GDP growth down to 0.7% while pushing inflation higher. The developments prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to convene an emergency meeting with senior economic officials. Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 has slipped into correction territory, down 1.57% on the day and 8.5% over the past month.
USDJPY traded in a 159.02–159.66 range before reversing lower to 158.26. Earlier gains were driven by sharply weaker domestic equities and elevated oil prices. Price action turned volatile after reports surfaced that Japan was pursuing a unilateral shipping arrangement with Iran, although those claims were later denied.
AUDUSD ranged between 0.6946 and 0.7024 and is hovering near session lows in early New York trading. The currency remains under pressure from broad US dollar demand tied to heightened geopolitical uncertainty, questions around access through the Strait of Hormuz, a modestly hawkish Fed tone, and declining global equity markets.
