Not the Prince
Trading Day covers the relevant moves in the Asian stock, commodity, debt and currency markets highlighting trading ideas and investment opportunities. Remember to read “Trading Week“, published Saturday morning, to put these events and ideas in context.
Most of the traders I follow on Twitter gave up the game today, partly because Japanese markets were closed, but also the lack of volatility on local markets. Although if you were in Kiwi-land, the NZX50 dropped 1% in almost a straight downtrend, but the S&P/ASX200 looked more like a jigsaw puzzle today, finally closing down 7 points to 4429 points, continuing to consolidate as I expected.
The Nikkei 225 and TOPIX were closed, so Chinese markets were the focus, but its been mixed with no clear direction. The Hang Seng was down 0.5% but the Shanghai Composite is currently flat at 2439 points, whilst the Shenzen Composite is up 0.5% – a mixed picture for sure.
The AUD is dicing with its 1.03 level against the USD, falling nearly 0.3 of a cent and below that level intraday, but has come back a little bit before the open of Euro markets. Aussie bonds are also trendless, bid up today after falling yesterday, yields falling nearly 7 basis points on the 10 years back down to 3.56%
Commodities continue to look weak, particularly precious metals, with gold falling 0.4% alongside silver (down 0.6%), losing $7.50 to $1645USD an ounce whilst in AUD terms it was down $2.50 to $1597 per ounce.
The Futures
European equity futures are looking hopeful as this week’s PMI extravaganza rolls on. Bond markets are quiet for now, although the peripheral dirty linen is slipping.
The dataflow tonight begins with the UK services PMI, then the ECB making an announcement on rates, followed by weekly US jobless claims and the all important ISM non manufacturing index. Jobless claims will be closely watched, given the recent uptick, whilst the ISM should be positive – a negative/contractionary print would knock markets about somewhat.
You can find our Economic Calendar here.
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