by Chris Becker
A fairly muted response in Asia as stocks were mixed following the solid overnight lead from the US. Japanese stocks barely moved even as the Yen weakened throughout the session, meanwhile the Shanghai Composite is currently up only a few points in a sideways session, with the Hang Seng up nearly 1% instead. Eurostoxx futures are pointing to a small lift as we head into the London open up 0.3%
The ASX200 finished the day with a whimper, up only a few points to finish at 5478 points. The financials index (XXJ) is teetering on daily support, ready to break and drag the rest of the bourse with it:
Healthcare stock Ramsay (RHC) though was a standout today, up nearly 8% on a near 20% year on year profit increase – thank Dog there’s no inflation in healthcare costs hey? The weekly chart shows the epic trajectory of the private provider:
In currencies, its been a shortlived pullback in the USDJPY pair with the Yen selling off back to the 102 handle and ready to burst higher here:
Meanwhile the Aussie dollar is now playing with the 75.50 level as it rejects overhead resistance during the Asian session. Look out for the 75 handle to break soon:
The data calendar in Europe will focus squarely on the German preliminary CPI print for August- the only inflation print the ECB watches – followed by US consumer confidence figures.