Keagan York | Nov 10, 2011 03:40AM ET
The EUR was smashed more than 2% from 1.3860 to as low as 1.3522 as investors fretted over whether Italy was too big to fail or too big to save! IMF monitors are visiting Rome soon and if the situation does not improve, Italy may come under IMF administration. To make matter worse, the situation in Greece has become a farce with the 'unity government' splinter- ing over a number of issues including who the new leader will be. In this environment, it was inevitable that the risk currencies would be severely punished. The Australian dollar has lost more than 2.5 cents to trade as low as 1.0136 this morning and looks likely to break parity imminently.
Equity markets globally were pummelled last night as Italy teeters on the brink of financial collapse. Furthermore, news that German legislators are looking at options for European nations to stop using the shared currency while keeping European Union membership didn’t help matters. The DAX lost 2.21% to 5,829 while the FTSE fell 1.92% to 5,460. As the bad news piled up, the S&P 500 was smashed lower by more than 3.7% to 1,229 with broad and heavy selling hitting all stocks.
Commodity prices fell as situation in Europe got significantly worse. WT crude oil is fairing well considering the massive falls in equity prices down only 0.54% to $96.30. Precious metals have lost some ground with gold down 1.4% to $1,774 while silver is down 3.00% to $34.10. Soft commodities plunged with wheat, cocoa and sugar down more than 2% while copper plunged almost 4%. The CRV index is down 4.15 points to 318.46. We have the release of the high impact Chinese Trade balance data.
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.