The week is finally starting here in Asia as most regional markets come back from a long weekend, unsure of the tide of risk sentiment and caution going into a solid week of economic data and catalysts. Coming into the FOMC Meeting the USD is reasserting itself while stock markets are unsure of the direction of the global trade war after several weeks of shrugging off all concern.
The Shanghai Composite reopened today and has remained in the red all day, currently off 0.5% or so to 2782 points, crossing back below the former target at 2800 points. The Hang Seng Index was closed instead today, with the current daily chart showing a continued rejection of ATR resistance above and no real change in its downtrend:
S&P futures have pulled back into the Monday morning lows, but no further, with the Eurostoxx also indicating a poor start tonight as we get closer to the FOMC meeting and head deep into more Brexit drama:
The Nikkei 225 reopened higher and remained in the green through the day, closing up 0.3% to 23940 points, helped by a weaker Yen. The USDJPY pair blipped higher on the Kuroda speech, hitting short term resistance at the 113 level here as the medium term target remains intact:
The ASX200 is treading water again, unable to make any headway by closing a few points down to 6185 points. The Aussie dollar has continued its own retracement, falling below the 72s and four hourly support as it head towards support at the 72 handle proper:
The economic calendar has two major US releases to watch closely tonight, namely Case/Shiller house prices and monthly consumer confidence figures.