by Chris Becker
Asian markets are in rebound mode in expectation of a rally on Wall Street’s return tonight – those pesky Americans always have some vigor after letting off fireworks – except locally here in Australia where profit taking was the rule. Continued tension in the Korean peninsula has not yet translated into further worries with local stocks a little volatile but not in the red.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite is up over 0.7% to finally get above previous resistance at 3200 points. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index is up 0.4% after yesterdays slump, trying to claw back above key support at the daily ATR line:
Japanese stocks are up slightly with the Nikkei 225 closing up 0.2% to remain just above 20,000 points, holding on to its previous gains. The USDJPY pair is coming back as the safe haven Yen buying abates, rebounding back above the four hourly chart and ready to take another attempt at the previous high around 113.50:
S&P futures are steady, as we await the return on the Yanks:
The ASX200 had a dour session after its previous rocket launch, falling around 0.3% to close at 5763 points. Once again, price seems stuck around or on the 200 day moving average, as the holding pattern going into this weeks external economic data catalysts continues.
The Aussie dollar is trying to make a comeback after its recent slump, rallying off the 76 handle against USD to be at 76.20 going into the London open. I would contend this is a short term long swing only and we could see a return back below the 76 handle on firm US data:
The data calendar continues tonight with the return of US markets and then the release of the FOMC minutes.