Breakers In The Futures Market

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK at 0800 GMT (EDT +0400) FX markets consolidated yesterday’s sharp moves overnight but risk appetite stayed broadly weak with Asian equities catching up on the falls in the US and Europe yesterday. Focus will be on the Italian debt markets again after the volatile price action seen yesterday, where yields at all points on the Italian sovereign curve closed above 7% for the first time since the launch of the euro, with the exception of 3m bills. Italy aims to sell up to EUR5 bn in 12m bills at 0930 GMT on Thursday, followed by a 5y auction on Monday. FX investors will be tuned to the outcome of these auctions, if in fact they go ahead as planned. Further euro downside followed after Reuters reported that Germany and France are exploring the idea of a smaller Eurozone, ...

(Reuters) - A deep fall in U.S. gasoline futures after an unexpected rise in weekly inventories helped fuel the second major sell-off in the oil market in a week, at one point triggering the exchange's circuit breakers. Crude oil prices had fallen by more than $2 a barrel earlier in the session on a mix of poor Chinese industrial output data and a stronger dollar, but losses accelerated after mid-morning weekly stock data. The slide was not as sharp as the rout that drove oil down over $10 a barrel last Thursday. The CME-owned New York Mercantile Exchange's (NYMEX) trading limits kicked in as gasoline futures fell by 25 cents, halting trade for 5 minutes. Losses carried on as trading resumed with a new limit of 50 cents. Prices completed erased gains from Monday and Tuesday, when traders ...

(Reuters) - Last year's "flash crash" brought to a boil a debate over stability and fairness in the U.S. equity marketplace. On May 6, 2010, the Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 700 points in just minutes before rebounding, sending blue-chip stocks sharply lower and briefly wiping out an estimated $1 trillion in market capitalization. For some, the unprecedented market drop confirmed fears that high-speed, automated trading represents a systemic risk to the foundations of capitalism. For others, it was an embarrassing blip that called for measured adjustments to an otherwise well-functioning market. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission responded with some quick fixes, such as new trading pauses known as circuit breakers, and vowed to investigate a bevy of emerging ...

(Reuters) - In the hours and days after last year's "flash crash," it seemed like Wall Street's high-tech marketplace was in for big changes. The May 6 market plunge confused and panicked investors, outraged politicians, and shamed regulators and exchanges who had no answers. The next day, President Barack Obama promised that U.S. authorities would do what was needed to prevent it from happening again. Yet a year later, little has changed -- suggesting that while the flash crash was historic, it was not transformative. "The flash crash was a warning shot over the bow that there is potential instability as a result of all this computerized trading," said Robert Engle, who is on a special committee that investigated the crash and pitched some radical fixes to regulators. "The response so ...