by Chris Becker
Despite some ugly economic prints from Singapore and South Korea and increased tensions between the US and occupied Hong Kong, the return of Japanese traders to their desks has seen risk lift across the Asian region, with the Nikkei 225 and ASX200 both up 1% or more. The big drop in South Korean exports for August is a bellwether that’s worth watching, as is the plummeting GDP growth in Singapore, but as usual this will be all overshadowed by vaccine hopium.
The Australian dollar is starting to lift off the floor from its 71 handle anchor zone, even though the latest NAB Business confidence survey retracted again to its lowest level since April, conditions are ripe for a breakout here:
The PBOC fix on the Yuan saw a mild weakening against USD, but offshore trading shows the “King” remains in a firm downtrend against the Middle Kingdom, almost down to the February lows:
While gold is slipping below the $2022USD per ounce level and threatening short term support, silver has created a double top pattern on the four hourly chart, or is it ready to breach the $29USD per ounce level again and shoot to another record hig?
Bitcoin is still in a solid uptrend channel as its two week long breakout hits the $12000 level:
Reporting season continues on the ASX200 with Challenger (CGF), James Hardie Industries (JHX) and SCA Property Group (SCP) the ones to watch today.