Action in Asia today was more of a stumble or a trip as risk markets reacted to the political/legal troubles of the Trump Administration that dogged the last hour or so of Wall Street’s session last night. Beyond the politics is the ongoing trade war with China, with signs there’s not much to be optimistic with the current trade talks.
The Shanghai Composite has halted its rebound, currently off by nearly 0.7% to 2713 points, but still above the previous weekly support at the 2700 point level. The Hang Seng Index is treading water, only 0.2% higher at 27803 points, still below terminal support at 28000 points, but beginning to show tentative signs of its own rebound phase:
S&P futures are down alongisde the Eurostoxx, the latter off by 0.2% going into the City open in reaction to the ZOMG Trump is a criminal meme. USD weakness is still a factor here, with price action on the four hourly chart lookingt exhausted as it failed to close above the weekly high around the 2860 level:
Japanese stocks did a lot better today, brushing aside the resurgence in Yen with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.7% higher at 22362 points, still treading water on its daily chart. The USDJPY pair is trying to match the mid 110.50 highs from last night as price gets back to the intersection of the weekly up and down trend lines:
The ASX200 continues its retreat below previous resistance at the 6300 point level as the stronger Aussie dollar and continued political shenigans continue, losing 0.3% to close at 6266 points. The Aussie dollar has paused in its bounce, unable to get back above the 74 handle last night and slowing down during today’s session. I’m watching for a return to the man at the 73.10 level:
The economic calendar has three big releases to watch tonight, all US-centric. Home sales data, DOE crude oil inventories and then the latest FOMC minutes.