Macro Afternoon

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Asian stocks continue to buck around on higher volatility with most bourses putting on small gains, while the ASX fell to its lowest level in months. It was a case of squaring positions before the Easter Weekend for most with yields on sovereign bonds also moderating. Commodity prices remain under pressure although there are some signs that oil is about to takeoff.

The Shanghai Composite closed 0.6% higher to 3142 points, clawing back some of the previous losses, but still under tremendous pressure following the new round Trump’s trade war. The Hang Seng Index lifted about the same, rising 0.5% to 30170 points, sliding just above support at the 30,000 level which is still firm here on the daily chart:

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S&P futures are slowly melting back down to the terminal 2600 point level, although this is nominally a bullish falling wedge pattern, its on very low volume:

Japanese stocks came back as expected with a big Yen selloff as a tailwind, the Nikkei 225 closing up 0.6% to 21159 points, This keeps it above tentative support at 21000, where it must stay like a lot of other bealeagured markets. Yen firmed slightly as expected given the huge runup in the USDJPY pair overnight, settling below the mid 105s. This could continue tonight so watch for a break below the 106 handle:

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The ASX200 was the standout and fell straight from the open to the close, sliding down 30 points or 0.5% to 5759 points. Its not looking good for Aussie shares, but don’t write them off too soon, with the high chance of an Easter rally on the other side of the break . The Aussie dollar has comeback slightly here, bouncing off a small level of support at the 76.50 level, but this is weak:

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The economic calendar continues tonight with two big Euro prints, namely German unemployment and CPI.

Have a great Easter, I’m going on holidays for a bit, always a 100% reliable indicator that the markets will now move into much higher volatility -usually to the downside!