Kayaking in the Cook Islands, 2019: Photo by H. Becker
Better hopes for a stimulus package from the US Congress is sending the USD down and risk up across Asia today, with strong moves locally as the iron ore price keeps heading to the moon. Bitcoin is holding just below the weekly highs at the $19400 level, while gold has found a small bid above the $1850USD per ounce level as its short term breakout floats a little higher:
The Shanghai Composite is up about 0.2% going into the close at 3356 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index has tried to take back its previous losses, up nearly 0.8% at the 26422 point level. Japanese stock markets are having a quiet day due to some poor internal figures plus the stronger Yen, with the Nikkei 225 closing only 0.2% higher at 26735 points while the USDJPY pair is making good on its breakdown of former weekly support at the 103.70 level, heading straight towards the 103 handle:
The ASX200 is the best in the region, up a solid 0.8% to 6685 points, still just shy of the 6700 point level which maybe tossed aside soon if confidence gets another RBA QE kick, with the Australian dollar retracing slightly, still above the 75.50 cent level against USD – or is that a triple top bearish pattern I spot on the four hourly chart?
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are zoom higher on the prospect of a potential pre-Christmas stimulus package from Congress and is very news sensitive at the moment, with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 ready to breach above the early week session high and potentially get back above the 3700 point level:
The economic calendar is a bit more lively tonight, with the latest US retail sales data but also a slew of flash PMIs across Europe and the US.