A quiet day here in Asia as Chinese and Japanese stocks markets are closed for holidays, the ASX200 did the heavy lifting alongside Korean markets. Hong Kong shares did the best on the back of tech earnings while currency markets were relatively subdued following Friday’s excitement.
The Shanghai Composite was closed, but the latest manufacturing PMI was released to positive impact on the ASX200 and outside the Middle Kingdom. The Hang Seng Index launched over 1.5% to close at 30378, building above support at the 30,000 level. This puts it back above the uptrend line from the February low, reversing last week’s limp price action:
S&P futures are down slightly on very low volume, but what is more interesting is the trajectory of this hourly chart – are we looking at another bearish rising wedge on a very short timeframe? I’d be watching support at the 2665 level closely here:
Japanese stocks were also closed today, while the USDJPY pair did not gap down from its Friday selloff, clawing back above the 109 handle, solidifying support here:
The ASX200 lifted 0.5% to 5989 points in absence of a proper lead, creeping in on the all important 6000 point level as the banks again lead the charge. The Aussie dollar is relatively stable at the mid 75 level against the USD and maybe setting up a small base here for a rebound up to the 76 handle, but the longer term trend is against it:
The economic calendar starts the week with German CPI plus US consumption expenditure.