Asian stock markets are somewhat mixed today as markets absorb last nights shift by the Fed into hawk mode following the FOMC meeting with Wall Street lifting strongly but only Japanese shares following along. The late and inaccurate local jobs print pushed the Aussie dollar slightly higher but was a drag on local stocks while Bitcoin hovers just below the $49K level. Gold is having another go at breaking out and has exceeded its overnight bounceback, currently trying to climb above the $1780USD per ounce level but still looking weak:
Mainland Chinese shares are putting in another mixed session with a small lift on the Shanghai Composite, up 0.3% to 3659 points while the Hang Seng Index is falling again, down 0.5% to 23291 points after flubbing into the danger zone in the previous session. Japanese markets are the most bullish with the Nikkei 225 zooming nearly 2% higher to 28996 points with the USDJPY pair also moving higher before a mild pullback as it gets way ahead of itself above the 114 handle following the Fed meeting overnight:
Australian stocks couldn’t catch a bid despite the great unemployment print and the positive overnight sentiment, with the ASX200 losing 0.4% to close at 7295 points as the 7400 point level becomes a distant memory. The Australian dollar initially lifted on the numberwang jobs result but has dropped back in the afternoon to be at the mid 71 level going into the London open:
Eurostoxx futures and S&P futures are looking to expand on the bounceback overnight following the FOMC meeting, with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price wanting to get back to the previous highs as it surpasses the 4700 point level:
The economic calendar switches to the BOE and ECB with their latest meetings, with a slew of flash manufacturing and services PMIs across Europe and the US.