Macro Afternoon

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Asian stock markets are mixed given the lack of confidence on Wall Street overnight, as strong US economic data continues to push the USD higher and leaves the risk markets a little hesitant. The latest unemployment figures locally didn’t cause much movement while the return of mainland Chinese markets saw the only bright spot across the region. Bitcoin remains well above the magical $50K level, pushing through the $52K as it continues to literally double from Christmas last year in a big meltup bubble:

The Shanghai Composite returned from the Chinese NY holiday, lifting over 0.7% to be at 2685 points while the Hang Seng Index had a breather, pulling back 1.2%, currently at 30699 points. Meanwhile Japanese markets also remain in pullback mode, with the Nikkei 225 finishing 0.2% lower at 30233 points as the USDJPY pair steadies just below the 106 level after failing to extend gains above the 106.20 level overnight:

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The ASX200 returned a scratch session with a thirty point trading range ending up finishing only a point higher at 6886 points while the Australian dollar traded around the unemployment print, briefly touching the 77.20 level before coming back to where it started the day at the mid 77’s as it continues to track sideways:

Eurostoxx and S&P futures were tracking slightly higher this afternoon but have pulled back just before the European opening session, with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 in hesitation mode with the clear breakout above the 3900 point level starting to waver here as momentum goes negative:

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The economic calendar includes the ECB minutes and US initial jobless claims.