By Chris Becker
Equity markets took a pause today, with the ASX200 reacting (maybe?) to the shockingly bad trade figures today, eventually closing up 5 points to 4438 points, I’ll take a closer look at the bottom of the post including technical analysis of the bourse.
With the mainland Chinese markets closed for the week, it was up to the Nikkei 225 to carry the load, which had another poor day again, down 0.4% with the Hang Seng having a scratch day. Aussie bond yields fell again losing 6 points to at 2.92% but the action was again all in the Aussie currency – the battler (AUD/USD) falling to just over 1.02 and even further against the other crosses:
The Euro/USD didn’t move much again, still around 1.29 again with the US Dollar (DXY Index) also gravitating around its same level. Its a pause for now…
The undollar currency gold (USD) is also not moving (although it reached a record high measured in Euro recently), but because of the weakness in the AUD it posted more gains today, now up to $1736USD per ounce.
Australian Stocks
As you can see in the table above, it was a mixed day with healthcare sector losing (mainly because of CSL), and IT gaining (mainly because of Iress). Within the ASX8 (the top four miners and banks), NAB was the biggest mover, up 0.5%, but this looks like a KC Signal to me. In fact, it’s time to reopen the option books and work out some short plays on banks…
Speaking of bull traps, here’s the daily chart of the ASX200 where you can see today’s intraday selling right on the overhead resistance:
Uncannily the 4450 level is the same support level on the weekly chart way back in July last year:
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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