by Chris Becker
A stronger Yen and plunging Aussie dollar taking the wind out of their respective markets. The RBA held fire today in its monthly interest rate meeting, blowing more air into the property bubble while washing their hands of any responsibility of said bubble. Bonds took all the bids as profit was taken on some financials.
Chinese stocks remain closed while Japanese stocks were pushed down by a resurgent Yen. The Nikkei closed down nearly 1% lower to 18800 points falling through its key support level on the daily chart. This is ominous indeed:
The USDJPY pair continued to fall in the 110’s as Yen was bid on the safe haven following last night’s weak performance on risk markets. I’m watching last week’s Monday lows just above the 110 handle proper for signs of capitulation here as we head into the FOMC minutes:
S&P futures are off slightly in response to the tepid Asian session. I’m still watching the 2368 resistance level closely here on the upside for signs of life:
The ASX200 sold off after the RBA hold decision but eked back some gains to only finish down 0.3% to 5856 points. Financials this time took most of the falls in obvious profit taking with the biggest mover in the top 50 being Newcrest as gold looks set to breakout, particularly in AUD terms.
Speaking of the Aussie dollar I was positioned on the upside in case of surprise, but it didn’t eventuate as the RBA held its ground, so I followed the crowd down down down through the 76 handle to the 75.60 zone. It should find temporary support there until the London open and then all bets are off as the major trendlines have been solidly broken:
The data calendar continues tonight with Super Mario giving a big speech in Frankfurt while there’s a few lower tier factory orders and other tertiary data coming out of the ‘States later.