Asian stocks are mixed once more given the poor overnight lead from US markets, although S&P futures are up slightly on anticipation of some better earnings calls tonight and the Chinese trade talks which are about to commence. The USD remains on a tear, but this means a pullback is imminent, with signs in Asia that Yen and Aussie are strengthening. All eyes on Euro tonight with a CPI print to push through.
The Shanghai Composite had a solid session today closing about 0.6% higher to just on 3100 points, in a sign it may skirt around support at the 3000 point level. The Hang Seng Index conversely is down 1.4% to 30285 points with the bearish triangle on the daily chart doing its thing, almost confirming a breakdown here:
S&P futures are down slightly with confidence definitely lacking in the premier index even as earnings come in better than expected:
Japanese stocks had another holiday today with the Nikkei 225 closed, maybe for a good reason as Yen strengthened a fair bit during the session. The USDJPY pair has retrace to the mid 109’s after previously touching the 11o handle overnight – I’m watching ATR support here on the four hourly chart for a potential reversal:
The ASX200 was again the bright spark, bursting some 0.8% higher to close just below the 6100 point level. This is against all expectations where a pullback is way overdue. The Aussie dollar has had a second rebound after previously slipping to the 75 handle with ATR resistance overhead possibly under threat going into the City open:
The economic calendar shifts down a gear but only just with EZ wide CPI print and the ISM non-manufacturing PMI to get through tonight.