Macro Afternoon

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Risk taking in Asia is definitely limited to Japanese markets with Chinese bourses selling off and Australian shares unable to put in a new high as RBA Governor Lowe’s speech remaining dovish for the Aussie dollar. Gold is still struggling to get back above the $1800USD level, while Bitcoin is flat lining as well as it remains at the $45K level, as other crypto currencies find no support following the Litecoin shenanigans:

The Shanghai Composite is selling off sharply going into the close, down over 1.2% so far to cross back below the 3700 point level, while the Hang Seng Index has continued its retracement, down more than 0.5% be at 25692 points. Japanese stocks are the only highlight in the region with the Nikkei 225 finishing 0.6% higher to 30647 points, helped by a much weaker Yen as the USDJPY pair breaks back above the 110 handle:

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Australian stocks were able to just put in a positive finish to the session with the ASX200 eventually finishing only 0.15% higher at 7437 points while the Australian dollar failed to keep support in check and has broken down this afternoon following Lowe’s speech, continuing its selloff from Friday night:

Eurostoxx and S&P futures are very flat heading into the London open, with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 showing price unable to recover so far from its deep dive on Friday night when it broke well below the 4500 point level. Oversold momentum is reverting back but price is not yet above the high moving average so the bears are still in control here:

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The economic calendar ramps up tonight with UK unemployment and US inflation to dominate the sessions.