Risk markets are having a relatively good start to the week outside Japan with the Wall Street rally from Friday echoed across the region. The Yuan has been the focus on currency markets, with offshore trading lower after a weekend PBOC move now factored in. Other undollars are firming with gold holding on to its Friday night breakout above the $1920USD per ounce level:
The Shanghai Composite returned from its holiday and has surged over 2%, up through the 3350 point level while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index is following along, up over 2.2% in a solid breakout above 24600 points. Meanwhile Japanese stock markets are in retreat mode due to Yen buying with the Nikkei 225 looking to close about 0.25% lower around 23560 points. The selloff in the USDJPY pair has continued despite a better open this morning, now below previous ATR trailing support on the four hourly chart and to a weekly low:
The ASX200 is having a solid session, gaining a further 0.5% to close at 6121 points, extending its gains above the 6000 point barrier. The Australian dollar gapped slightly lower as expected this morning before pushing on as it makes further gains above the 72 handle, but looking overextended in the short term:
Eurostoxx futures are up around 0.5% with Wall Street closed tonight for a holiday, the S&P500 futures four hourly chart is still looking to extend further above the 3400 point level and perhaps return to the previous highs nearer 3600 points:
The economic calendar is quiet and a bit Euro-centric tonight with a few ECB speeches to keep an eye out for.