Until a week ago, the dollar/yen cross-rate (USD/JPY) was a virtual avatar for the S&P 500. Pip for pip, and tick for pip, the USD/JPY dragged the ES along with it in any given direction.
Since the USD/JPY has been weak this evening, it was irksome to see the ES down only a little bit (as of this writing). I decided to look at the past several weeks on an intraday basis, and sure enough, the lockstep nature of the relationship of these two changed a week ago, and now there’s a chasm between the ES (below, in blue) and the currency (in black). Suffice it to say I’d like to see the ES “catch down”.