Asian stocks generally finished higher today on the positive Wall Street lead but Chinese stocks and their proxies fell in late trade as the ramifiactions of the new Trump tariffs on Chinese trade weighed down sentiment. Bond yields moved higher while currency markets continue to witness the return to strength of the USD in the lead up to tonights FOMC meeting.
The Shanghai Composite was weak to start with and has accelerated its selloff going into the close, down nearly 2% to 2824 points in response to the tariff speculation. The Hang Seng Index fell about half that, finishing 0.8% lower at 28343, pushing further down as it returns to support at 28000 points proper:
S&P futures are up ever so slightly as we go into the European open, with volatility the name of the game again given the crowded economic calendar, let alone the trade specualtion. The four hourly chart had fulfilled the bullish falling wedge pattern but came back strongly to just above 2815 points where its gravitating in anticipation of the FOMC meeting tonight:
Japanese stocks were the standout today, helped along by a much weaker Yen. The Nikkei 225 finished 0.8% higher at 22746 points, breaking out above the high moving average band on the daily chart and prepping for a new uptrend. The USDJPY pair shot above the 112 handle continuing its own breakout followed the BOJ meeting, setting up a two week high and a possible return to the previous high at 113.20:
The ASX200 put in a scratch session, falling four points even as the Aussie dollar weakened, finishing at 6275 points. The Aussie dollar moved lower to be just above the 74 handle going into the City open, clearly not having the positive momentum to get above key resistance at the 74.40 level:
The data calendar is crowded tonight with PMIs on both sides of the Atlantic and then gets real busy with DOE crude oil inventories and the big one – FOMC meeting.