Market Update: The Dollar Is Getting Smooshed, Markets Soar Higher, Gold Is Back, Greece Will Become The First-Ever Country To Lose Its ‘Developed Market’ Status

Markets soar higher, gold is back, Spitzer is advancing, and we may want to reexamine those airplane seatbelts.

During a Q+A after his speech in Boston yesterday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke sounded a distinctly dovish tone about the direction of monetary policy. He signaled rates would stay low for a long time, citing an unemployment rate that probably overstates the health of the labor market.
Markets were up big, led by the Shanghai Composite, which gained 3.2% on the day. The Hang Seng ticked +2.55%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained +1.31%. European markets are higher across the board, led by the DAX at +1.08%.
Gold futures are staging a comeback after Chairman Bernanke’s speech, and are now 2.88% higher than they were prior to 4 pm Wednesday. Mike O’Rourke of JonesTrading says gold is best-positioned to take advantage of the dovish Bernanke struck yesterday. Meanwhile the dollar is falling. The DXY dollar index was down -1.32%, and off -1% against the Swiss franc.
Initial jobless claims will be published at 8:30 am. Consensus is for 337,000 against 343,000 prior. Import/export prices and the Bloomberg consumer comfort index also come out this morning.
The Bank of Japan issued its most sunny outlook for the country’s economy since 2011, the FT’s Jonathan Soble reports, saying the economy was “starting to recover moderately.” They cited a 10.5% gain in machinery orders for May as evidence. 
Greece’s unemployment situation continues to worsen as the April jobless rate hit 26.9%, a 3.8 point rise from last year and a 0.1 point increase from March.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/opening-bell-june-11-2013-2013-7#ixzz2Yjyzeu7r

The Dollar Is Getting Smooshed

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