Another mixed day on stock markets across Asia despite the solid lead from Wall Street overnight with currency markets relatively stable as the latest Chinese data came in better than expected.
The Shanghai Composite failed to make good on the trifecta of releases, down nearly 0.6% going into the close at 2956 points while the Hang Seng Index stabilised its post-breakout rally, currently down 0.1% to be at 26824 points, still just below resistance at 27000:
Japanese share markets were mixed again the stronger move on Yen overnight plus the poor lead from Wall Street with the Nikkei 225 up 0.2% while the TOPIX is down about the same. The USDJPY pair remains stalled with price gravitating around the low moving average, continuing to take some heat out of the very sharp advance this last week and a half:
The ASX200 sold off again, falling another 0.6% in the wake of the big move higher in the Aussie dollar following yesterdays better than expected unemployment print. The Australian dollar has slowed down its rebound later in the session, currently just on the 68.30 level and looking to make a new weekly high again:
Both S&P and Eurostoxx futures are down slightly with the S&P500 four hourly chart still showing a reluctance to break over the psychologically important 3000 point barrier, as traders continue to weigh up overseas macro risks:
The economic calendar finishes the week with the continued European summit in Brussels but also the Fitch rating on US Sovereign Debt will be worth watching.