Asian stock markets are pulling back very sharply across the region in response to Fed minutes released last night which saw tech stocks and Wall Street in general press the sell button on almost everything. The USD remains the safe haven of choice with gold and the Australian dollar under a lot pressure alongside other risk currencies while Bitcoin has broken down sharply below the $46K level, losing almost 10% to head towards the $42K as buyers evaporate:
Mainland Chinese shares are down slightly with the Shanghai Composite actually treading water later in the session, still at 3592 points while the Hang Seng Index is down 0.3% to remain well below the 23000 point level, currently at 22825 points. Japanese markets are not liking the Taper with the Nikkei 225 closing more than 2% lower at 28559 points while the USDJPY pair retraces back below the 116 handle after trying to return to its former highs overnight:
Australian stocks had the worst selloff, not helped with local machinations over COVId, with the ASX200 closing 2.7% lower at 7358 points while the Australian dollar also broke down below its short term uptrend, now well below the 72 level as momentum reverts:
Eurostoxx and Wall Street futures are falling going into the London open, with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price breaking below last night’s lows as it catches up to the rout on tech stocks and the moves lower here in Asia – not a great start to the year!
The economic calendar includes German inflation and US balance of trade figures, followed by initial jobless claims as we ramp up for the US unemployment print tomorrow night.