A wave of risk aversion upends markets

A wave of risk aversion has hit global equities in a seeming bolt of lightning out of the blue.

There’s no big macro catalyst for this move, which now has the S&P 500 down 39 points or 0.75%. Shares opened higher today and everything appeared to be calm with no economic data scheduled for today.

Then the bottom fell out. The move even caught the ticker guy at CNBC off guard.

One spot that many are pointing to is NVDA, which has undoubtedly driven the market this year. Shares are down 4% today after some less-enthusiastic comments from a UBS analyst. Pinning it on that alone is a stretch because he’s been warning on October NVDA revenues for over a week but that’s the best we’ve got.

I suspect there is a strong technical element in place, as the drop in NVDA came after a break of $850, which held in three previous attempts. Greg notes some things to watch on the NVDA chart.

Others are pointing to de-risking ahead of tomorrow’s CPI report as the catalyst for this move.

In any case, the stock market move is bleeding into FX with the yen strongly bid. USD/JPY has fallen to 151.60 from 151.80 and broader USD bids, despite falling Treasury yields.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.