A commodity world; Dollar on the defensive

The top headlines on Monday came from commodities as gold and oil made epic turnarounds. The dollar traded on the defensive as it recorded losses against its major competitors.

Oil crude surged over 4% to perform its best day in 2 years after bouncing off $63.74 to peak to $69.50; Gold bounced at 1,142.80 to recover the 1,200 area and to peak to 1,120. US stocks closed down on Monday as investors digested falling oil and gold prices over the weekend plus a poor economic data in China.

In the currency market, the $EUR/USD ended almost flat (+0.15%) on the day after declining to 1.2415 but reaching a maximum of 1.2505. The pair remains contained by the 1.2400/1.2520 range. 

The $GBP/USD recovered nearly all of its losses on Friday, while the couple ended at 1.5725 (+ 0.52%) after bouncing at 1.5585. The cable traded to the upside amid better than expected UK manufacturing PMI and mortgage approvals. 

On the $USD/JPY field, the pair rose to 119.15 early in the day; however it fell amid news from Moody’s that downgraded Japan's sovereign rating from AAA3 to A1. The pair fell to 117.85 before closing at 118.30 (-0.22%).

Bigger movers in Forex were $USD/KRW (+1.99%), $USD/RUB (+1.10%) and $USD/BRL (+1.01%) in the upside; while top bearish performers were $USD/NOK (-1.21%), $EUR/NOK (-1.08%) and $USD/CAD (-0.75%). Special comment to the $USD/RUB that is rising 54.75% YTD, 61% since June, amid oild weakness and Ukraine crisis.