by Chris Becker
Markets were mixed in Asia together on the poor lead overnight, coupled with turmoil in Korea and a pullback in oil and other commodity prices. The Shanghai Composite was up nearly 0.5% after lunch but has pared that back to remain positive going into the close at 3282 points, still making good on its bear market rally. The Hang Seng in comparison did the reverse slipping before the lunch and then finishing up slightly, currently at 22905 points with the daily chart still showing the caution around the 23000 point level:
In Japan, share markets have also retreated a little even as the Yen begins to weaken against the USD once more. The Nikkei fell 0.3% again to be at 18307 points, still comfortably above support at 18000 while the USDJPY bounced above the 112 handle, finding some temporary support here:
S&P Futures are trying to rally as well off support at the 2200 point level with the FTSE probably opening down a little:
The ASX200 had a scratch session, pulled down by BHP again, as bank stocks rallied the rest of the sector. The market closed down about 7 points, but its really all eyes on the financials index (XXJ) which is highly correlated with the German DAX, which may come under pressure tonight with the latest CPI release. Im watching the low moving average at 6800 points on the XXJ closely:
The Aussie dollar has come back a bit against USD, falling below the 75 handle, but not yet breaking its trendline:
The data calendar tonight ramps up with the German CPI print for November, combined with US 3Q GDP internal results and house price indicies.