Down day for Trump's second-term anniversary – North American session Market wrap for January 20

[Ben Graham]

Log in to today's North American session Market wrap for January 20

US traders returned from the Martin Luther King Day holiday to face a rough surprise. EU-US tensions remain elevated, with speeches increasingly referring to a shift toward a New World Disorder. (trademark)

The US Dollar, US equity futures, and bonds sold off again, while the Swiss Franc continued to rise, as it did yesterday.

These flows are defining the current market landscape and are likely to persist as long as President Trump maintains his aggressive rhetoric. By the way, today is the President’s 1st anniversary of his second term.

In a notable divergence from traditional risk-off dynamics, the Japanese Yen continues to see selling pressure as Fiscal pressure builds further after PM Takaichi announced a snap election in February – a hike on Thursday's Bank of Japan meeting becomes more probable by the second.

Meanwhile, precious metals are surging, with Gold, Silver, and Platinum all reaching new highs – in contrast, crypto faced harsh rejection, sending Bitcoin down 3.50% to trade below $90,000.

Natural Gas also spiked again, rising another 10% in today's session as EU-US tensions can start closing some supply door for the Eurozone.

President Trump will land in Davos early tomorrow morning. Expect a flurry of headlines from the conference, with his speech scheduled for 8:30 A.M.

Discover:

• Market Check – Risk-sentiment sours further, Gold (XAU/USD) explodes
• Stocks rebound, is it TACO Tuesday? – Dow Jones and US Stock Index Outlook
• The Swissie wins: CHF demand spikes as traders shun the Dollar
• Chart alert: AUD/USD bullish breakout above 0.6720 as “sell America” intensifies

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Market Close Heatmap – Source: TradingView – January 20, 2026

The US Stock Market reopened today and things did not look good.

The post MLK-Day reopen brought the Nasdaq, once again leading to the downside (-2.19%) and the Dow Jones not holding much better (-1.76%).

Cross-Assets Daily Performance

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Cross-Asset Daily Performance, January 20, 2026 – Source: TradingView

Metals once again lead assets to the upside while everything else dies down.

Natural Gas closes higher by 10% as supply fears for Europe (with the Russian door closed and the US supply potentially compromised) drag further.

A picture of today's performance for major currencies

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Currency Performance, January 20, 2026 – Source: OANDA Labs

Both the JPY and USD are concurring to the downside for the second consecutive session, with flows this time heading right back towards the safe-haven CHF.

FX Developments are promised to remain volatile for the time being so keep a close eye!

A look at Economic data releasing throughout this Weekend and Monday's sessions

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For all market-moving economic releases and events, see the MarketPulse Economic Calendar.

Wednesday is packed and inflation-heavy, with the UK taking centre stage early.

December CPI, a full slate of price indicators (PPI and RPI) will be decisive for rate expectations, especially after today's beat in labour data.

Any upside surprise would reinforce a cautious BoE stance, while softer prints could revive easing bets.

The World Economic Forum reserves multiple speeches from Lagarde, Escrivá, Villeroy and Nagel as the conference keeps going in Davos.

President Trump’s will also have an address at the WEF as he lands in Switzerland tonight. Tomorrow's speech is expected at 08:30 A.M ET.

Late in the session, Asia-Pacific data takes over, with Japan’s trade figures ahead of Thursday's Bank of Japan (high importance with the gigantic moves in the JPY) and Australia’s labour report likely to drive FX volatility, especially AUD crosses, given expectations for job gains and a steady unemployment rate.

Safe Trades, keep a close eye on Middle East and Greenland developments!

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