A mixed day across Asian stock markets today as most play catchup from the Easter break and the surge in oil prices overnight. Yen moved sharply in both directions, taking the confidence out of Japanese shares while the local ASX200 had the biggest move – higher – due to a much lower Australian dollar.
The Shanghai Composite has closed 0.5% lower as confidence disappears down to 3198 points, while the Hang Seng Index remains below the 30,000 point level, losing 0.1% to be at 29954 and very weak. The next level to watch is the daily low moving average line which is playing short term support:
US and Eurostoxx futures are up slightly, with the four hourly chart of the S&P 500 showing a desire to return to last week’s high with momentum still behind the broader bourse, but can the increase in oil prices be enough to push through:
Japanese stock markets continue to move in a very tight range with the much more volatile Yen not helping, as the Nikkei 225 gains only 0.2% to finish at 22259 points. The USDJPY pair broke below its own low moving average and ATR support on the four hourly chart, bursting through a very tight trading range before recovering that fall to be just under the 112 handle. The writing is on the wall here:
Australian stocks are the best performers due to the selloff in Australian dollar with the ASX200 closing nearly 1% higher to be above 6300 points for the first time in nearly a year. The Australian dollar is finding no buyers here with a pullback towards the 71 handle as momentum to the negative side accelerates:
The economic calendar continues with a quiet session tonight, namely US house prices and new home sales data.