Risk markets continue to be dragged sideways like a husband through a shopping mall, where overnight in Europe, Spanish and Italian debt auctions were very successful with yields falling sharply, the Italian stock market jumping more than 2% on the result.
However the news was a bit more muted in the US, with a double whammy of lower than expected retail sales (up only 0.1% and per capita at 13 year lows) and a jump in initial unemployment claims, a new six week high, although equities finally finished in the positive in the afternoon session.
In detail:
The UK FTSE dropped 8 points or 0.15% to finish at 5662 points, still below its resistance level at 5700 points, whilst the German DAX finished up 0.4% or 27 points to 6179, and although above resistance, is still below the closely watched 200 day moving average:
The Euro (EUR/USD) jumped on the auction results, up almost 1% to be above 1.28 against the USD again, currently trading at 1.282, as the USD Index slipped, down 0.5 points to 81.01 points.
All US markets finished in the green, with the tech heavy NASDAQ leading the charge again, up 0.5% to 2724, the broader industrial S&P500 flat, only up 3 points to 1295, and the Dow Jones up 21 points to 12471.
The S&P500 remains just slightly above resistance at 1285 points, on low volume:
The AUD saw some bidding, remaining resilient at over 1.03 against the USD, currently trading at 1.034, while it slipped back below 81 cents against the Euro, now trading at 80.62 against the currency union. Check out Deus Forex Machina’s piece on the crosstrade posted this morning.
To commodities, and WTI crude, fell sharply, down almost 2% and falling below $100 a barrel for the first time in a week, even in the face of Nigerian and Iranian supply problems. It is currently trading on the spot market at $99.40 a barrel.
Gold surged, hitting over $1660USD an ounce overnight, currently trading at $1650USD an ounce, waiting for the open of the Asian session, and building a bullish case:
Other metal commodities were also strongly bid up, with aluminium up 1%, copper up over 3%, building on its breakout, and nickel returning to trend, up over 1% on the London metals market (LME).
The Aussie SPI Futures point to a higher open for the S&P/ASX200 index, currently up approx. 25 points, probably opening around the 4205 points level, above resistance at 4200 points.
I asked quant analyst ASXIQ yesterday on Twitter what are the numbers surrounding “Friday the 13th” session results – here they are from his blog:
Trading Day will cover the Asian market session and the “ASX8” stocks after the close in the afternoon.