By Chris Becker
With the Federal Reserve meeting later this week, coupled with renewed speculation that the Bank of Japan is about to announce a massive stimulus measure (because, you know, that worked before) and a sliding oil price put risk markets in a holding pattern overnight. European and US stocks both finished where they started with some gains here and there, as US bond yields fell on smaller demand than expected in another sign of “Wait and See”. Currencies were again where the action was, with Euro dropping, Pound oscillating, gold bottoming and Yen firming – all because of central bank action, or lack thereof.
Recapping Asia first where the Shanghai Composite finally had a stronger session, closing up 1.1% to 3050 points just below the 200 day moving average. We’re now facing a tight band between that level and support at 3000 points which usually presages a highly volatile breakout – or breakdown:
