So as we gently roll into the new trading (and blogging – give me time to warm up!) year, its still a case of low volume, low volatility and low expectations. In Asia today it was all about Chinese shares as Japanese bourses were closed for a holiday, with most traders down under also still not back at work.
In mainland China the Shanghai Composite has lifted over 1% after staying down near the 3300 point level before the New Year. This could be a new breakout but more volume and conviction above 3350 points is required. The Hang Seng Index has made another new daily high, up nearly 2% to burst through the 30,000 point level and finally get past its mid November high. This looks overdone, so a small retracement before another legup is to be expected:
S&P futures are basically unchanged with price bunched up at the 2700 point level on the daily chart since mid-December.
Japanese stocks were closed for their extended New Years holiday with trading on the Yen also light on. The USDJPY pair broke down below the 113 handle over the Xmas break but found some support here at the 112.50 level, where its hesitatingly holding on before The City reopens tonight:
The ASX200 had a jumpy day as expected, closing down only a few points to 6061 on low volume. No big movers among the banks and iron ore stocks with retailers the only stocks under the pinch.
The Aussie dollar has literally shot out of the gate over the Xmas break, possibly breaking through 79 cents against USD with a big gap higher this morning. More on this one later:
The economic calendar starts the year very slowly with some final manufacturing PMI figures for Europe and the US and a new round of Treasury auctions.