by Chris Becker
So there goes the Australian dollar, and what’s left of the RBA credibility as bank stocks are crunched on the ASX. The news is mixed throughout the rest of Asia with the safe haven bid strengthening as the USD is dumped on the back of the what looks like another Trump failure, as the healthcare plan stumbles once again.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite closed up only a few points higher to 3179, still below previous resistance at 3200 points from where it broke down significantly yesterday. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index is also having a scratch day but still holding above its recent breakout above 26,000 points:
Japanese stocks reopened after its holiday yesterday, putting in some light losses as the Yen strengthened against USD. The Nikkei dropped fell 0.6% to just below the 20,000 point level. The USDJPY pair dropped straight through the 112.30 Friday low and is heading for the 112 handle tonight:
S&P futures are steady as she goes, but we could see a retracement to the low moving average 2450 zone tonight:
The ASX200 sold off straight from the start, eventually taking off 1.2% to fall below 5700 points again. Yesterday’s minor selloff in the banks spurred this big selloff today with most divisions of Megabank off nearly 2% but they were helped along with the major miners and energy stocks joining along for the ride.
The Aussie dollar however zoomed straight through the 79 handle on the back of the RBA minutes, breaking above the megaphone pattern on the four hourly chart. The next level or resistance is up at the 82 or even 87 handle, so hold on!
The data calendar has two big ones on the European circuit, first UK CPI, then the German ZEW Survey.