A mixed start to the trading week here in Asia with only the ASX200 putting on outsized gains, namely due to a weaker Aussie dollar and a solid trifecta of economic prints from China. The Yuan fix was brought back below the 7 handle by the PBOC today, while Bitcoin gapped down signficantly over the wekeend, threatening the $7000 level.
The Shanghai Composite is floating along and only up 5 points or so going into the close to remain just below the 3000 point level , now at 2976 points, while the Hang Seng Index has come back slightly from its Friday breakout, off by 0.3% to 27582 points:
Japanese share markets are treading water in response to the small reversal in USDJPY on Friday night with the Nikkei 225 closing with a scratch session at 24010 points. The USDJPY pair has been relatively stable throughout the Asian session, currently just below the 109.40 level and stuck in its mid range:
The ASX200 was the standout by closing some 1.5% higher to significantly build above the new 6800 point target level to close at 6849 points as it barrels in on the former high. This is due to the fall in Aussie dollar which gapped higher on the Monday open but fell back to its Friday session lows at the 68.70 level in reaction to the government’s mid year forecast:
Both S&P and Eurostoxx futures are up slightly going into the European open with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing how price wants to break free of Fridays stalled result after previously getting past strong resistance at the 3150 point level:
The economic calendar starts the week with a slew of preliminary PMI prints across Europe and the US tonight, including a few wonkish central bank talks.