Nerves continue to be rattled on risk markets as the Ukraine crisis builds, sending oil prices to near decade highs, all in the wake of the higher than expected US inflation print last night that is sending the USD skyward as well against almost everything. The standout is gold which left up to the $1860USD per ounce level on Friday night, where its given up some minor ground in Asian trading so far:
Mainland Chinese shares are falling further going into the close with the Shanghai Composite down more than 0.8% at 3431 points while the Hang Seng Index is doing even worse, down 1.2% at 24598 points. Japanese stock markets reopened from the long weekend but traders will wish they stayed closed with the Nikkei 225 losing over 2% to close at 27128 points, while the USDJPY pair gapped lower at this morning’s open but has gained a slight lead to almost get back to the mid 115 level, but still under the Friday close:
Australian stocks unexpectedly rose with the ASX200 finishing 0.3% higher at 7243 points while the Australian dollar deflated slightly on the open this morning and is hovering just above the 71 handle, almost below the Friday night lows:
Eurostoxx and Wall Street futures are stable but slightly lower from their Friday finishes as we head into the London open, with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price still below the previous support/resistance zone at the 4440 level:
The economic calendar starts the trading week extremely quietly, with a speech by ECB President Lagarde the only event of note.