by Chris Becker
Another interesting session in Asia to finish the week locally as the South Korean president is ousted, bonds are selling off strongly and the USD remains king of the currencies. With 10 year Treasuries now above the “critical” 2.6% yield level, tonights US unemployment print could the most important one of the year.
The Shanghai Composite is dead flat going into the close, still at 3216 points, and remaining only just above local support at 3200 level. The Hang Seng Index is doing a little better, up 0.2% to 23541, but is still below the 24000 points resistance level and dicing with the daily ATR support level at 23500:
Japanese stock traders are cheerful again as Yen continues to sell off against USD, pushing the Nikkei up a solid 1.5% to finish the week at 19,609 points. The four hourly chart for USDJPY shows a potential KC signal forming here as the USD goes too far, too fast accelerating through all the timelines. A pullback to the 115 handle proper is to be expected to take some heat out:
S&P futures are slowly lifting up after finding a recent bottom at the 2360 point level. Tonight should see a bounce but depends on energy prices and the direction of the ECB:
The ASX200 finished the week with a better session, closing up 0.5% to 5771 points, still shy of key resistance at 5800 points, but close enough. BHP continued to slide in the face of the commodity rout, down 1.5% while RIO was off nearly 2%, the losses offset by a buoyant financial sector.
The Aussie dollar is creating a base here with terminal support below the 75 handle and a possibly breakout level tonight if NFP disappoints at the 75.40 level:
The data calendar finishes the week with a bang, namely US non farm payrolls, the February unemployment rate release that will set the tone for international markets for the next month.