Asian stock markets have not responded in kind to the positive moves on overnight markets with all but the Hang Seng Index deeply in the red, as local shares weigh up the re-weighing of the RBA’s intentions after the release of its latest statement. The USD remains relatively strong against the other majors, although Yen has seen a solid safe haven bid while gold remains unable to climb back above the $1800USD per ounce level. Meanwhile Bitcoin is caught in a tight band of support and resistance at the $60 and $62K levels, as it still struggles to burst back above the previous and record high at $63K and $66K respectively:
Chinese shares are mixed again with mainland stocks pulling back strongly, as the Shanghai Composite retreats more than 1.5%, currently at 3483 points while the Hang Seng Index is up nearly 0.3% as it tries to pull back from its rollover from last week, currently at 25215 points. Japanese markets have also pulled back a little from their very sharp positive reaction to the weekend election with the Nikkei 225 losing nearly 0.5% to close at 29503 points, not helped by the USDJPY pair which after putting in a new weekly high recently has sharply retraced to almost the mid 113 level:
Australian stocks fell back throughout the session, with the ASX200 falling 0.6% to take back all of the previous gains and remaining well below the 7400 point level, while the Australian dollar turned its recent deflationary move to a mild selloff in the wake of the RBA meeting, heading back below the 75 handle, but not yet making a new weekly low:
Eurostoxx and S&P futures are pulling back slightly with the four hourly chart of the S&P500 showing price pausing here just below the 4600 point psychological level as we head into the next FOMC meeting, but still looking strong:
The economic calendar quietens down a little with the US Redbook and a few minor ECB speeches.