A mixed end to the week here in Asia with stock markets outside China rising even after a poor overnight lead from Wall Street. The USD continues to build strength although the Japanese CPI print for January came in slightly stronger than expected, moderating the fall in Yen and sending stocks higher. Here in Australia, the ASX200 finally got out of its week long funk and moved higher.
The Shanghai Composite slipped today after gapping 2% higher yesterday on its return from a week long NY holiday to put in a scratch session. The Hang Seng Index has recovered after its poor showing yesterday, up 0.8% to 31203 points, as its moving average band continues to lift higher. I’m watching the previous daily low at 30600 or so for building support:
S&P futures have come back after last nights mixed session. There’s an easy level of support and resistance to discern here at 2700 and 2730 points respectively:
Japanese stocks came back, with the Nikkei 225 clawing back most of its 1% loss yesterday to lift 0.7% to 21890 points, getting back to support at the previous daily lows. The USDJPY pair has ticked up slightly to be just under the 107 handle in the wake of the stronger than expected CPI print, but I’m cautious about any further gains above 107.30 or so:
The ASX200 finally did something, rallying 0.8% to close a hair under 6000 points in a broad move, mainly supported by the banks and iron ore miners as commodities rallied. The Aussie dollar has reversed its overnight gains against USD, falling almost down to the 78 handle here as it resumes it falls from the breakdown last week:
The economic calendar closes out the week with Canadian CPI, a private oil rig count in the US and a few Fed speeches to keep an eye on.