USD/JPY hit a 13 year low in Asian session trade today touching 88.15 after the US Senate failed to agree on a bailout package for the Big Three automakers. The news sent a wave of risk aversion flowing through the Asian equity markets as Nikkei tumbled more than 4%. Meanwhile the commdollars were the biggest victims of the news in the currency market with Aussie and loonie plunging more than 200 points from yesterday’s close.

Over the past 6 months, being long US dollars has been one of the best trades in the currency market but as the dollar extends its gains, many traders wonder how much further it can rise. In the currency market, trends can last much longer than anyone would normally anticipate especially if it is driven by fear. As humans, we run from uncertainty and not towards it. Risk aversion has been pushing investors into the safety of the US dollar and out of higher yielding currencies. When Main Street reads in the papers tomorrow about the slowest pace of economic growth in 26 years, their shock could turn into more selling. Next week, we also have the US non-farm payrolls report due for release. A sour mood could hang over the markets for most of the week as traders fear that another 500k jobs were lost in the month of January. The only thing that could improve risk appetite and give investors a reason to cheer would be if the Senate passes President Obama’s economic stimulus package.

The drop in the GBP/USD at the start of this week has been nothing short of astonishing. In less than 48 hours the pair erased more than 1000 points off its price depreciating by more than 6% against the dollar. Although cable has been in decline since the turbulent markets of last fall, this latest freefall carries a whiff of true panic about it as markets fear that that UK government spending schemes to rescue the country’s ailing banking sector will put unsustainable stress on the Treasury.

As we approach the holidays the currency market has taken on all the characteristics of Florida weather – just wait a minute and it changes. After completing a spectacular parabolic rise yesterday, the unit reversed course and produced an almost as impressive a fall in today’s early European trade. The pair went into a nose dive dropping more than 200 points in 20 minutes as it hit a low of 1.4040 before bouncing above 1.4100.