by Chris Becker
Another mixed day in Asia where the rising risk of North Korea impacted Japanese stocks as the Yen was bid on a safe haven, while oil prices continued to rise as tensions boil in the Middle East. The big stick approach by the Trump administration is not exactly making markets confident.
In China, its a two part story as mainland stocks rallied in the afternoon, with the Shanghai Composite closing up 0.6% to 3289 points as it tries again to beat overhead resistance at 3300 points. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng moved down though, off 0.8% and making another another new daily low as it remains stuck in a holding pattern on the daily chart:
Japanese stocks slumped as the Yen was bid against USD as the inverse correlation held true on the safe haven pressure. The Nikkei closed down 0.3% remaining below key support at 19000 points, slowly turning into a corrective phase here. The USDJPY pair fell straight down to the 110.50 level and is on track to hit support at the 110 handle proper:
S&P futures have slipped 0.1% but remain in a holding pattern on low volume. The area to watch is the intrasession low at 2335 points:
The ASX200 is defying the risk aversion by climbing up 0.3% to 5929 points on the back of a strong NAB business conditions print. Although BHP and FMG retreated as iron ore prices rallied, RIO was up nearly 2% and financials lifted across the board alongside gold stocks.
The Aussie dollar is slowly finding a bottom here, pipping just above the 75 handle against USD on the four hourly chart. Its still hovering at a new weekly low and as I watch the high moving average here for a potential breakout, price action is pointing to a full retracement to the previous weekly low at 71.50:
The data calendar tonight includes UK CPI print for March and the equally important German ZEW survey.