Asian stocks could not build on their boisterous start to the week with a flat session across the region due to the lack of lead from US markets which were closed overnight. The USD surged however with all pairs falling including Yuan which the PBOC again weakened.
The Shanghai Composite is basically flat, down about 0.2%, currently at 2749 points going into the close. The Hong Kong Hang Seng Index is also off, down about twice as much or 0.4% to 28240 points. Again this means no new daily high with clustering around the 28500 resistance level, so I’m watching closely for signs of a reversion and down to the low moving average:
US and Eurostoxx futures are flat in line with other risk assets with the S&P 500 looking to build on reopening after the long weekend with the 2800 point level the target this week:
Japanese stock markets did a little better, with the Nikkei 225 about to close a few points higher, currently at 21307 points, still back above key resistance that had been broken briefly last week. This was helped by a slightly weaker Yen with the USDJPY pair finally moving after spending Monday in a daze doing nothing. It’s still not much with no close above the high moving average with momentum also not moving much higher on the four hourly chart, so I’m cautious:
The ASX200 was actually the best in the region, lifting nearly 0.3% and closing at 6106 points. The Australian dollar flipped on the RBA minutes though, falling straight down to the 71 handle after being a little buoyant on the Monday morning gap. This reversal could see last week’s lows threatened:
The economic calendar ramps up with the closely watched German ZEW Survey and some Treasury auctions