Pip Diddy

Since Japan’s markets were out on holiday and no major catalyst popped up, traders mostly extended this week’s trends.

Market junkies were in no mood to buy up higher-yielding assets, placing more bets on safe-havens as North Korea tensions remain heightened.

NZD continued to bleed out, albeit not as much compared to earlier. GBP and JPY, meanwhile, were duking it out, with GBP ultimately coming out on top.

High-yielding bets started the session on a strong note before profit-taking and a bit of risk aversion pushed them back lower by the end of the session.

A bit more calm was restored to the markets during the latter part of the New York trading session as traders were careful not to get too carried away with North Korea jitters.

Things calmed down a bit during the morning London session but the safe-haven Swissy and yen were able to extend their gains.

Concerns over escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea kept a lid on risk appetite and sent traders into the arms of lower-yielding assets.

The U.S. dollar found more reasons to advance against its rivals thanks to stronger than expected medium-tier reports.

Not much in terms of market-moving data or news during the session. Even so, there was plenty of wonky price action.

The Aussie started the day on a strong note thanks to Australia’s business survey reports, but soon fell back on weaker-than-expected Chinese trade numbers.