Kayaking in the Cook Islands, 2019: Photo by H. Becker
Another mixed day of trading in Asia with most stock markets declining or putting in minor scratch sessions as Wall Street futures pulled back in the wake of a probable Democrat victory in the special Georgian elections that will decide the fate of the Senate. Bitcoin continues to surge, now above the $35000 level while gold looks a bit toppy as it holds onto its recent gains after being overbought since the start of the week, currently just below the $1950USD per ounce level:
The Shanghai Composite is floating along again, up only a handful of points at about 3520, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index has slipped, down 0.5% to 27516 points. Japanese stock markets are mixed with the TOPIX gaining while the Nikkei 225 lost another 0.3% to finish at 27091 points while the USDJPY pair has had a minor blip higher but remains below the 103 handle and previous key support at the December lows:
The ASX200 eventually finished down over 1.1% to 6607 points as Wall Street futures declined while the Australian dollar was able to match its previous session highs to be at the 77.70 level going into the London session, a little overbought but on track:
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are struggling weak going into the European open as the news of a probable Democratic victory in Georgia is absorbed by risk markets. The four hourly chart of the S&P500 has been pushed below the 3700 point level after Wall Street with price unable to get above short term resistance at 3725 points and looking in trouble here:
The economic calendar tonight has two important releases, namely the latest German inflation print, then the release of the latest FOMC minutes.