Asian markets are still very hesitant to take on more risk with the return of Japanese markets still not providing any catalyst for more upside, except on mainland China. Gold and silver remain somewhat depressed but are finding some life later this afternoon, while Bitcoin is rallying again after dropping down towards the $30,000 handle, now at the $35000 level and ready to breakout if the chart pattern at the one hour level bears out:
The Shanghai Composite is rallying after this lunch break, currently up nearly 1% to 3565 points, while in Hong Kong the Hang Seng Index is again trying to climb above the 28000 point level, up some 0.5% to 28054. Japanese markets return from yet another holiday with the Nikkei 225 putting in a scratch session while the USDJPY pair is still slowly rising above the 104 handle, continuing its surge off the December lows:
The ASX200 was again unable to gain traction, falling some 0.3% to 6679 points while the Australian dollar was equally weak and still floating along just below the 77 handle proper:
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are flat lining going into the European open with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 still showing a lot of buying support as it remains poised to breakout again above the 3800 point level:
The economic calendar is again very quiet tonight, with a few speeches to watch out for this time on the Fed side plus the API crude oil stock report.