Share markets in Asia are losing their optimism midweek as traders prepare for the non farm payrolls on Friday with the background of flailing manufacturing and a lower energy prices not helping risk appetites.
The Shanghai Composite has fallen over 1% to just above the 3000 point barrier, barely holding on to its previous bounce-back. The Hang Seng Index has slipped 0.3% to 28781 points, unable to make good on the previous daily high as expected, but still holding on above the breakout area at 28500:
Japanese share markets fell as the Yen firmed again throughout today’s session, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.6% lower to 21638 points, now with three sessions in a row with no new highs. The USJDPY pair has bottomed out in recent hours to the 107.60 level, below trailing ATR support on the four hourly chart and looking set to breakdown even further tonight:
The ASX200 was the standout by rallying nearly 0.5% higher to 6685 points with banks continuing their post-RBA retracement while industrials and property giants lifted the rest of the market. The Australian dollar has stalled today at below the 70 handle and while momentum remains positive following the RBA rate cut, we could be seeing the first signs of a rollover:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are stagnant with traders considering the appointment of Christine Lagarde as the next ECB president as bond prices rally. The four hourly chart of the S&P500 shows a small line of resistance at the 2980 point level that needs to be cleared soon to keep this party moving ever higher:
The economic calendar has a slew of manufacturing and services PMI’s across Europe and the US to absorb tonight.