Macro Afternoon

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The biggest loser in the Asian session today was the Kiwi on a big job number miss first up this morning, falling more than 100 pips against USD and AUD. Aussie stocks lifted on the back of a much weaker Australian dollar and a continued rebound in bank and financials.

US and Eurostoxx futures are drifting down slightly with the four hourly S&P 500 futures chart falling back from its recent readiness to launch higher from the psychologically important 2700 point level, where traders are looking for a weekly close above the weekly downtrend line (upper black line):

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Japanese stock markets were unable to translate weakness in Yen into any gains today with the Nikkei 225 closing about 0.6% lower at 20751 points. The USDJPY pair came back from its recent overnight gain but then has rallied again late this afternoon to be just under the 110 handle and the previous weekly highs. Note how close price is clustering here at these session highs which suggests a violent outbreak could be imminent:

The ASX200 was helped along by a much lower Aussie dollar despite the poor macro news with the market closing nearly 1.1% higher to really surge above the 6000 point barrier at 6092 points. as all short positions get covered. The Australian dollar has flopped right through the 71 handle now after failing to find a base following the recent reversal off Governor Lowe’s comments. I’m expecting the January low below 71 cents to be the pause point here:

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The economic calendar continues tonight with a big event – the latest BOE meeting followed by US initial jobless numbers.