by Chris Becker
Asia starts the week with solid rallies on most stock markets in reaction to the positive mood on Wall Street on Friday night as the latest NFP did not disappoint. A modest Chinese CPI print, in line with expectations kept the party mood going as investors weigh up the strength of central banks resolve back to “normalcy”.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite is only up slightly, stable at 3221 points holding above previous resistance at 3200 points. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index is up much stronger, pushing for a 1% gain as it bounces back off the daily ATR support line at the 25300 level:
Japanese stocks are also in rebound mood on the weaker Yen, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.8% higher to be just above 20,000 points again. The USDJPY pair has made a new high as it builds above the intersection of the weekly downtrend here, currently just above the 114 handle:
S&P futures are steady, as the major bourse gets back to the midpoint of control at 2430 points, but can it breach rolling resistance here tonight:
The ASX200 had a strong start to the session but cooled its heels in the afternoon session, finishing 0.4% higher to 5724 points. Once again, price seems beholden to the 200 day moving average, with the banks providing the impetus as miners and energy companies selloff.
The Aussie dollar is slowly melting up as expected with the bullish falling wedge pointing to a slight uptick above the 76 handle against USD. Support at 75.70 should hold here, but resistance at 76.30 is the key level to watch on the upside:
The data calendar starts the week slowly with the May German trade balance figures.