by Chris Becker
Asian markets absorbed the weekend like it never happened, extending Friday’s risk rally with green across the board in stocks as Yen pulled back, iron ore exploded higher, dragging other commodities with it. Bonds were sold off mildly while the Aussie dollar remained firm against the USD as the commodity proxy.
The Shanghai Composite surged above 3200 points, gaining 0.6% to finish at 3216 points, building on its recent breakout. The Hang Seng Index is up 0.5% pushing asides any concerns about being overdone as momentum reaches a new level here:
Japanese stocks are also doing well as the Yen sold off initially on the Tokyo open, and absorbed todays slightly disappointing GDP print with aplomb, the Nikkei up 0.4% closing at 19459 points. The hourly chart for USDJPY shows the initial rally before falling off as it tried to break through the 114 handle, almost coming back to the daily downtrend line that needs to be watched closely tonight:
S&P Futures are positive after the Friday launch, currently just above the 2300 point level and probably ready to make another new high tonight:
The ASX200 finished up 0.7% higher closing at 5760 in broad gains across most sectors, following the very positive finish on Friday. With iron ore going nuts, Fortescue was up 6% to almost $7 per share while BHP was over 2% and Rio Tinto nearly 4% in a great day for commodity plays.
The Aussie dollar is remaining solid here at just below the 77 handle against USD, trading in a tight range throughout the Asia session. I’m watching the Friday high at 76.80 closely tonight:
The data calendar starts the week quietly with ECB forecast data tonight the only one to watch out for.