Atiutaki, Cook Islands 2019: Photo by Chris Becker
Stock markets still want to go higher here in Asia, but momentum is waning after being so overbought for so long. The news of a second potentially successful COVID vaccine has not been enough to embiggen spirits as expected. The weakening USD has stabilised slightly throughout the session with gold still under pressure as it remains unable to get back up to the $1900USD per ounce resistance level:
The Shanghai Composite is falling going into the close, currently down 0.4% at 3333 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index is putting in a scratch session, up only 0.1% at 26384 points. Japanese stock markets are trying their best with the Nikkei 225 climbing 0.3% to 26004 points while the USDJPY pair is lacking lustre, still stuck here at the mid 104’s as momentum readings suggest an imminent breakdown:
The ASX200 reopened more successfully this time but only managed a 0.2% climb higher, closing at 6498 points while the Australian dollar absorbed the latest RBA minutes but was unable to breach its Friday night highs and remains just shy of the 73.20 level going into the London open:
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are waning with not much momentum here on the four hourly chart of the S&P500, which still shows price wanting to beat the October highs which are acting as strong resistance:
The economic calendar includes US retail sales and industrial production numbers and not much else.