by Chris Becker
A generally positive day across Asian stock markets following the somewhat mixed lead from Wall Street overnight as it gears up for another earnings season. The Yen retreated helping Japanese bourses while Aussie bonds were stable as European futures start to look bullish going into their own session.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite closed down 0.3% after being up slightly mid-session, to be at 3203 points, just holding above previous resistance at 3200 points. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index is much stronger, pushing for a 1.5% gain as it surges following the bounce off the daily ATR support line at the 25300 level:
Japanese stocks are higher on the weaker Yen, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.6% higher to be at 20,195 points. The USDJPY pair has made another new high as it builds above the intersection of the weekly downtrend here, currently well above the 114 handle:
S&P futures are steady, as the major bourse gets back to the midpoint of control at 2430 points, with a possible breach above ATR rolling resistance in play here as momentum builds:
The ASX200 had a weak finish, closing only a few points higher to 5728, again unable to break clear of the clustering around the 200 day moving average.
The meltup in Aussie dollar is gearing up now, swiftly moving above the 76 handle against USD. Support at 75.70 is building here and its very close to resistance at the 76.30 level:
The data calendar is relatively quiet tonight as the earnings season starts on Wall Street, with a few Fed wonks speaking to liven things up.