Those who had gone too high lose ground and those who had gone too far gain. After December's effervescence on the stock markets, it's time for profit-taking. And after the sharp depreciation of the yen and the collapse of gold, it's time for rebounds. The MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan index (the Tokyo stock exchange will only reopen on Monday) is falling by 1%, also 'helped' by a drop (from 56.0 to 54,6) in the PMI services index (which however remains well above the 50 level, in expansionary territory).
The yen strengthened, to 104,3 against the dollar (compared to 105,5 in recent days) and the US dollar also strengthened against the euro (1,365). Oil still weak (good news for consuming countries) at 95,5 $/b WTI, while gold is attempting to recover. Given that markets need to figure out every move, the reason for the day is the expectation of stronger demand in Asia for the yellow metal (China in 2013 probably undermined India as the largest consumer country) .
Attachments: The Bloomberg article
