by Chris Becker
The bull freight train stopped its tracks in America overnight as solid weekly initial jobless claims came in lower than expected, adding to US interest rate rise expectations. The rally in Asia started with the BOJ policy statement meeting lifting all bourses and indeed in Europe, the Eurostoxx index got to a new three month high as the USD slipped against the majors. Commodities were mixed on the back of the weaker dollar, with Brent crude up slightly, but WTI down as copper fell. Bond markets saw a slight bid across the curve and matrix with German bunds rallying strongly.
Recapping Asia’s session where the Shanghai Composite took back the previous losses and rallied a little over 1% to 3600 points. The daily chart shows a slow down here but congestion suggests a possible breakout up to 4000 points if the recent intraday highs are cleared:
