by Chris Becker
Asian share markets end the week on a high note as bonds sold off slightly alongside currencies as the USD firmed and gold sunk again finding no buyers. With an OPEC meeting coming up over the weekend, oil has rallied with WTI over $51USD per barrel again while Dalian commodities are down as Chinese inflation threats rise.
The Shanghai Composite is rallying on the inflation news, up nearly 1% after its long lunch break, and currently at 3241 points. The Hang Seng conversely is down nearly 0.4% still coming up against resistance around the 23000 point level, with momentum wavering again:
In Japan, both the Nikkei and Topix share markets are up more than one percent – again – this time with a big lift from Yen which sold off immediately on the Tokyo open. The USDJPY pair has risen above the 114 handle, its highest point for the week with USD looking strong going into the weekend and next week’s Fed meeting:
S&P Futures are steady heading into the London open, slowly building and positioning for another positive night on Wall Street – when will it end?
The ASX200 finished the day and week up mildly, up 0.3% to 5560 points exactly, with bank stocks rallying again and more than making up for the slump in miners and commodity producers.
The Aussie dollar slipped initially this morning before rebounding in recent hours on the risk proxy, but again will face stiff resistance at the 75 handle against USD tonight:
The data calendar ends the week with two major releases, the German trade balance print and the US University of Michigan consumer confidence survey.
Haveagoodweekend!