Markets take a "break" before US-Iran second rounds of talks – North American Session Market Wrap for April 16

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for April 16

After yesterday's extreme Stock Market session, Traders are taking somewhat of a break.

The quotes in the headline, are due to the fact that even in a muted session, large movements are still observed, but with the new phase in Markets, they remain more concentrated.

The main culprit of today's action was once again Crude Oil, rallying from the lack of concrete headlines regarding US-Iran talks, that were supposed to take place today but instead got previewed by President Trump for this weekend.

Some great news came from the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire which got agreed this morning to take place immediately. It is a great step towards a longer-standing peace process between the two neighbors, but doubts will remain on Lebanon's ability to disarm Hezbollah, (who are still eager to wage war against Israel) the most essential element for a longer-run peace process .

The news took out a few dollars off of the 4% daily rally in Black Gold.

In any case, this was the final demand from the Iranian side to participate in the second round of talks.

While Nasdaq printed some new all-time highs and US Indexes grinded higher, their action was quite contained from the absence of clarity.

With no particular data releases (except for a small miss in Australian Employment) and a few Fed Speeches, the situation really did not change much.

Central Bankers are all confused and unsure of what to communicate from the ongoing uncertainty, as NY Fed's Williams confirmed in his speech.

Read More:

• WTI and Brent Oil bounce with US-Iran news still awaited – What's next? Intraday Analysis
• The US Dollar is stalls as the world awaits Ceasefire news – DXY Outlook
• Chart alert: AUD/USD 360 pips rally at risk of a minor mean reversion decline below 0.7200 before new upleg

Today's Stock Market action was once again pulled by all sides with chaotic individual stock dynamics which did not paint any particular sense of sectorial harmony.

Healthcare remains under strain, but remained bid throughout the conflict – Hence, with Investors turning back to riskier-assets, this could only be due to some repositioning.

Netflix also just reported a beat on their earnings but issued confusing guidance and the Stock is dropping in after-hours trading.

Tomorrow will conclude the heavy financials reporting week – No particular name to outline but keep track of the sector after this week's heavy names having reported.

After yesterday's explosion all across the risk-asset board, the Market really stalled it action.

At least, the sell-the-Thursday trend observed since the beginning of the year seems to have officially stalled.

Traders will have to remain locked in tomorrow as while uncertainty isn't expected to disappear, there could be some movement ahead of weekend risk!

The Canadian Dollar is following WTI in its daily rebound, while other FX currencies remained under absolutely muted.

The CAD is at interesting spots as explained in our USD/CAD analysis from earlier this week – Even with Oil correcting, increased orders away from the Gulf could be providing interesting longer-run opportunities for the currency.

This is a development to keep your eyes on in FX.

The Calendar is virtually empty in tomorrow's session, so this will allow Traders to follow the pre-weekend risk flows. Listen to the tape!

As always, make sure to follow talks around US-Iran negotiations, with the negotiations starting again tomorrow.

Safe Trades!

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