Kayaking in the Cook Islands, 2019: Photo by H. Becker
Asian stocks are in full flight as the selling gains traction following the fallout from the UK lockout and the European lockdowns as the Congress stimulus package (let them eat cake basically) underwhelms. Bitcoin is levitating just under the $23000 level while gold has tried to regain its previous heights after the big roundtrip last night, currently at the $1878USD per ounce level as momentum remains nominally positive going into the London session:
The Shanghai Composite is falling going into the close, currently down 0.4% at 3407 points while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index is off a little further, down nearly 0.5% to 26163. Japanese stock markets are falling even more sharply, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.7% lower to 26509 points while the USDJPY pair is also trying to hold a steady course after its own roundtrip overnight, still struggling to get back to the mid 103 level, remaining in its medium term downtrend:
The ASX200 however was the worse off, down over 1% to 6599 points, not just keeping well clear of the 6700 point level but also dropping through the psychological key level of 6600 points. The Australian dollar was able to hold on this morning and through the November retail sales print, but is fading fast in the afternoon, getting back below the 76 handle as the four hourly chart looks like going into full retracement back to the previous 74 cent support level:
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are almost there themselves, nearing full retracement mode, with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 showing another smackdown here as it proves unable to clear the important 3700 resistance level decisively. Watch for a potential break below the 3650 level tonight and possibly further:
The economic calendar includes German and US consumer confidence plus the US final 3Q GDP print.