Stocks are getting a bit of a bid here in Asia as sentiment swings back to positive on more central bank dovishness. The USD remains strong as the Aussie dollar drops throughout the session, helping local stocks while gold has retreated from its recent highs.
Chinese stocks have come back slightly with the Shanghai Composite lifting 0.4% to exactly 2900 points while the Hang Seng Index is up around 0.3% to 28446 points. This puts it just below the recent set of highs at 28500 as the market tracks frustratingly sideways here:
Japanese share markets were the drawcard due to a much weaker Yen but also some mergers and tech stock gains, with the Nikkei 225 rising nearly 1% to close at 21620 points. The USDJPY pair continued its bounceback and is above the 108 handle again going into the City open:
The ASX200 had a solid showing with a 0.5% gain, closing back above 6700 points again at 6725. The Australian dollar helped here as its slow melt is turning into a proper selloff on RBA comments, falling to the 70 handle and almost breaking through key support:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are up 0.5% going into early trade with the S&P500 four hourly chart clearly showing how it needs to break through this downtrend to gain any traction back above the 3000 point level as the disappointing earnings season carries on:
The economic calendar continues with the US earnings season plus the outcome of the UK Tory leadership and hence Brexit PM vote, plus US home sales data.