Outside China it’s been a flat finish in the Asian session with most stock markets putting in scratch results as the US/China trade talks recommence. Currency markets are also sanguine although the Yuan has weakened for the first time this week leading into tonights NFP print.
Chinese shares continue to move higher with the mainland Shanghai Composite currently up more than 1% to be over 2600 points while the Hang Seng Index has fallen about 0.3% to finish at 27867 points, taking a small breather here after resoundingly finishing the week above the previous false break high above 27100 points:
US and Eurostoxx futures are pulling back slightly with the four hourly S&P 500 futures chart showing a small reversion to the high moving average after getting a little ahead of itself last night. Confidence remains high going into the unemployment print:
Japanese stock markets are flat with both the TOPIX and Nikkei 225 exchanging a small loss for a small gain, the latter upabout 0.1% to 20788 points. The USDJPY pair has continued its overnight bounce but is finding resistance at the 109 handle:
The ASX200 is also flat, only down a few points with caution reigning, closing at 5862 points despite a lower Australian dollar. The Aussie has fallen back towards the 72 handle after the recent spike and could falll below that level proper tonight:
The economic calendar finishes the week and starts the month with the most important event on the calendar – the January non-farm payroll (NFP) or unemployment print from the US. But we also get the January Eurozone CPI print beforehand and after, the US ISM manufacturing print.
Have a good weekend, the boys are back on deck from next week and I’m back to trading wiggly lines on screens, til next time!