Its been a solid positive reaction to Friday nights non-farm payroll (aka US unemployment) print with all Asian stock markets rallying, taking back most of the end of week session losses. The Aussie dollar soared to a new monthly high as the USD retreated against the majors, save for Yen which remains stable. Given the other risk events underway, namely European politics and an ever widening trade war, its been a welcome return to upside risk for markets.
The Shanghai Composite put in a solid green session, rising 0.5% to close at 3091 points, staving off a wider selloff as it dices with terminal support at 3000 points. The Hang Seng Index gapped on the open and then accelerated, finishing up 1.6% higher, an inch shy of the 31000 point level. This takes it well above the downtrend line from the previous dip, setting up for a return to the former high at 31700 or so:
S&P futures are pushing higher so we’re likely to see long held resistance at 2740 points come under threat tonight:
Japanese stocks moved higher despite the stalled USDJPY relationship with the Nikkei 225 lifting near 1.5% higher to close at 22475, also breaking its own previous downtrend line on the daily chart. The USDJPY pair however remains at its Friday night session high, but still above the high moving average on the four hourly chart, with the potential to hit the 110 level:
The ASX200 put on the smallest amount of gains, but still put in a solid effort to get back above the key 6000 point barrier, closing 0.6% higher at 6025 points, still looking somewhat weak. The Aussie dollar may have been behind the relative underperformance with a huge surge today, lifting straight through the 76 handle and looking quite overcooked going into the European session – but the bulls are definitely in charge before tomorrows RBA meeting:
The economic calendar is relatively quiet tonight with some mid tier releases in the US and the usual weekly Treasury sales the only events of note.