by Chris Becker
Tech stocks are pushing Asian share markets higher, except in mainland China as commodity prices come off a bit following a surge earlier in the week. The USD is firming slightly as well as traders position themselves for another night of key corporate earnings reports on the US markets.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite is down 0.3% to 3286 points as it again reaches and fails to breach the next obvious resistance at the 3300 point level. The Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index is up 0.5% continuing to accelerate away after its recent breakout:
The Nikkei finished nearly 0.5% higher to 20080 points, finally getting above the psychological important 20,000 point level after PM Abe announced a cabinet shakeup and the Yen sold off sharply. The USDJPY pair launched higher from its volatile session bottom overnight, getting up to but not above the 111 handle where it will struggle to break through later tonight:
S&P futures are slowly lifting as the earnings season continues, with all eyes on a breakout above ATR resistance at 2475 or so points:
The ASX200 did not follow up its great session from yesterday, falling around 0.5% to 5744 points, still unable to breakout above its recent funk, even after respecting the 200 day moving average as support. Banks sold off slightly, but it was commodity stocks that fell as iron ore dropped nearly 2% in Dalian, with BHP and Fortescue the big losers.
The Aussie dollar was melting down into the high 79’s against USD following a similar lack of buying overnight and is settling here at the 79.70 level going into the City open. The very short term target to reach here is last week’s intrasession high at 80.60:
The data calendar continues with two major releases to watch out for tonight, the first being the DOE crude inventory report that should be interesting following crude’s drop last night. The other one is Tesla’s quarterly earnings – combined with its recent Model 3 release this could be a pivotal moment for the company.