Asian stock markets are having a mixed restart after the Easter break with mainland and offshore Chinese markets remaining under pressure with risk sentiment also souring as European markets open. The Australian dollar has bounced back after its week’s long selloff, almost lifting back above the 74 cent level versus USD, while the USDJPY pair is bursting higher, having made another a two decade high. Oil markets are trying to stabilise after a surge at the start of the week that saw Brent lift above the $110USD per barrel level, while gold is vainly trying to push higher, almost ready to crack the $2000USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets remain unsettled, with the Shanghai Composite scraping in with a scratch session to close at 3194 points while the Hang Seng Index has slumped again, falling more than 2% to finish at 20987 points. Japanese stock markets however are bouncing higher, lifted by a very weak Yen with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.6% higher at 26985 points while the USDJPY pair has also broken out yet again, now surging above the 128 handle:
Australian stocks were able to put in a good jumpstart to the truncated trading week with the ASX200 closing 0.5% higher at 7565 points, while the Australian dollar has bounced back after a long decline, currently pushing up towards the 74 handle in a classic swing long play:
Eurostoxx and Wall Street futures are retracing after being higher earlier with the S&P500 four hourly chart still vainly looking to make a bottom pattern here but finding a lot of overhead resistance as momentum remains oversold and ready to keep going down:
The economic calendar is pretty quiet tonight with US housing starts and a few peripheral Fed speeches.