by Chris Becker
So as the US Presidential election plumbed new lows of decency and depravity, Asia stock markets re-opened after a tumultous Friday night session. The softer than expected NFP result plus the weekend trading in Middle Eastern markets saw the usual Monday morning gap come and go without much fuss, with the Yen and Aussie dollar gapping significantly before returning to their trend. With US markets closed tonight for a holiday, the cue from Asia maybe more important on European bourses this evening, although I think traders there may be a little ill after watching the debate…
The Shanghai Composite came back from its holiday with a bang, up 1% currently going into the close at 3040 points with the Hong Kong Hang Seng actually down 0.4%. The mainland market needs to hold on to the 3000 point level this week to have any traction, with todays Yuan fix – the lowest in six years – possibly helping:
In Japan, the Nikkei slipped 0.3% to close under 17,000 points again as the Yen, after a mild selloff on the gap, continued to strengthen against USD with the USDJPY pair coming down below the 103 handle and indeed, Friday nights low:
This is not a good unwind from the previous breakout, so watch the 102.80 closely going into what should be muted trading tonight.
For the ASX200, it was also a case of gap up on the open, then take profit all day, with the local market only up a few points to 5475 points, still unable to get above resistance at 5500 points. Not a good result
In commodities, WTI gapped down slightly below the $50USD per barrel level, bouncing off support at $49 or so. This level is the one to watch for US stocks too, as they will come back on Tuesday night hopeful that the post-debate polls show a Trumping:
A long swing setup is developing in gold too, presaged by silver again as it goes above ATR hourly resistance at the $1262USD per ounce level during Asian trade. My target for this is muted at only $1278 or so, given the broken back for the shiny metal going into the end of year rate rise that is coming from the Fed:
The data calendar tonight will focus on the German trade balance figures from September and not much else, with a holiday in the US.