Macro Afternoon

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by Chris Becker

A soft mood in Asia with stock markets in retreat mode and erasing the start of week gains. The USD is moving higher against the majors, except gold which is still strong, and Yen starting to move higher as safe haven buying accelerates as coronavirus cases continue to spike across the world.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite felt the heat the most, closing 4.5% lower to 3201 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index finished 1.7% lower to 25045 points. The daily chart has fully retraces all of the previous breakout with momentum readings continuing to move to a swing short position as support at 25000 points comes under stronger pressure:

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Japanese stocks slipped after initially being higher as active coronavirus cases rocket in Tokyo, with the Nikkei 225 falling 0.7% to close at 22270 points. The USDJPY pair is largely unchanged, falling slightly below the 107 handle as Yen buying accelerates, as it looks set to flip over to its recent weekly lows going into the City open:

The ASX200 gapped higher at the open again and looked set for another move higher but was pushed lower by the latest jobs figure print, eventually falling 0.7% to be just above 6000 points. The Australian dollar has retraced most of its overnight move, ducking back below the 70 handle in line with other risk assets:

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Eurostoxx futures are down 1% while S&P futures are flat with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 still looking choppy despite the previous tilt higher, with price looking to gravitate around the 3200 point level: