By Chris Becker
A mixed across Asian bourses today, again at low volume this time as everyone awaits the Fed to start the printing presses tonight – or not. The ASX200 had a down day as you’ll see below, down 0.5% or 21 points to 4339 points. I’ll take a closer look at the bottom of the post including technical analysis of the bourse.
The Japanese markets did better than the Chinese, with the Nikkei 225 up 0.4%, with the Shanghai Composite now down 0.3%, with the other mainland markets down almost 1% – I wonder where iron ore will finish today?
The Aussie battler (AUD/USD) slumped this afternoon, and it wasn’t just the major pair – against the GBP, EUR especially -maybe because of foreign buyers getting out of Forteseue?
The Euro/USD is also coming up slightly, but still above 1.29 as the US Dollar Index remains weak and stays below 80 points.
Meanwhile, Queen Undollar – gold (USD) – is oscillating wildly in anticipation of the QE3 rumor/fact arbitrage and is currently just below $1730USD per ounce – we could see some wild moves tonight…..
Australian Stocks
A sea of red across the local bourse across all sectors, with only Telecomm (i.e Telstra) posting any meaningful gains. In the ASX8, the big movers were the banks – maybe all suffering because of the rumored debt covenant waivers on Fortescue (covered earlier here) – with the top four miners sliding or going sideways for now.
As for the index, here’s the daily chart, showing it remains in an uptrend but is facing pressure above at 4400 points:
And so to tonight….well actually around 2.30am Australian time, we’ll get the result of the FOMC rates decision and a possible QE3 announcement. Til tomorrow then!
These daily updates need to be placed in context with the longer trends and drivers amidst the overall technical picture, where Former “Trading Week” readers will find it reborn as “Technicals“, published 8.30am each Monday morning.
Chris Becker is an investment strategist at Macro Investor, Australia’s leading independent investment newsletter covering stocks, trades, property and fixed interest. Each week Macro Investor publishes tables on the top ten most undervalued and overvalued stocks on the ASX. A free 21-day trial is available at the site.
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