A mixed day is better than an across the board selloff with shares here in Asia putting in scratch sessions and some advances. The RBNZ has surprised all with a double cut at its interest rate meeting, sending both Kiwi and Aussie falling to new record lows, while gold has put in another big bid for another new record high.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Composite continues to fall, albeit at a slower rate, closing 0.3% lower at 2768 points while the Hang Seng Index has put in a scratch session, losing only a handful of points, closing at 25959 points. This keeps it just above the January lows at 25000 points but nowhere near out of trouble:
Japanese share markets have done similarly, with the Nikkei 225 off by 0.3% to 20516 points, just holding on as Yen stabilises. Indeed, the USDJPY pair has been anchored at the 106 handle again, unable to clear a lot of resistance overhead:
The ASX200 was the best mover today helped along by the much lower Aussie dollar, launching 0.6% higher to 6519 points. The Australian dollar fell in sympathy with the Kiwi which was cut down by the surprised double cut by the RBNZ today, sending both antipodean currencies to new yearly lows:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are coming back slightly, up about 0.2% going into the European open with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing a tentative bottom as it bounces off 2800 points, but this is early days yet:
The economic calendar has two releases to watch out for tonight, namely the German industrial production print for July then the latest DOE oil inventory numbers.