Macro Afternoon

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Stock markets are finally finding their feet here in here in Asia after a wobbly start to the trading week, with Japanese stocks advancing strongly after a big stall yesterday. The co-ordinated rise in commodity prices overnight has helped confidence, with gold surging to $1870USD per ounce, while cryptocurrencies flail about as Bitcoin struggles at the $45K level:

The Shanghai Composite is up slightly going into the close, now up 0.2% at 3522 points as it wants to extend past the 3500 point barrier, while the Hang Seng Index is also pushing higher, up more than 1% to 28535 points. Japanese stocks are acting unsure again, this time jumping on a bid and pushing the Nikkei 225 up a wild 2% to close above 28448 points as the USDJPY continues its mild pullback as Yen buyers maintain a push down towards the 109 handle:

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The ASX200 did much better in today’s session with a near 0.7% gain, closing at 7068 points while the Australian dollar found some life with a small breakout above the 77.70 level but is still finding resistance here at the 78 handle from the previous weekly closes:

Eurostoxx and S&P futures are pushing higher, with the NASDAQ looking to open about 0.5% higher while the four hourly chart of the S&P500 showing price wanting to extend above its Friday night closing point:

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The economic calendar ramps up tonight with UK unemployment data, EZ growth forecasts then US housing starts.