by Chris Becker
Not the most exciting session here in Asia with currencies and gold unmoved against USD as most stock markets putting in scratch sessions as Chinese bourses remain closed for a holiday. The only action was in the Australian dollar which fell on a poor retail sales number as traders pre-position for tomorrow nights non-farm payroll/US unemployment print.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite remains closed with the Hong Kong based Hang Seng Index also having the day off. The daily chart below shows a possible pause here above local resistance at the 28000 point level as momentum remains overstretched. I’m watching the high moving average when it re-opens for signs of a retracement:
S&P futures are very steady following last nights tepid rise as more speculation abounds around the new Federal Reserve chair replacement:
Japanese stocks again barely closed in the green up as the Yen did nothing against USD. The Nikkei finished at 20628 points, still clinging above resistance at the 20,000 mark. The USDJPY pair is treading water in between its moving average band not giving any indication of direction. I’m still looking for a possible retracement back to the 112.50 level tonight:
The ASX200 put in a scratch session finished at 5651 points and still solidly below the 200 day moving average. The poor retail sales print saw Westfield (WFD) fall over 1% alongside Myer while ponzi-Norman fell about half that.
Aussie dollar took a hit on the retail numbers the most, down nearly 40 pips and taking out any notion of a possible breakout above the trailing ATR resistance level at 78.80 against USD. This downturn could see the start of week low at the 78 handle proper come under pressure later tonight:
The data calendar includes the minutes from the latest ECB policy meeting, then a preview of tomorrow nights NFP with US initial jobless claims plus the latest trade figures.