Macro Afternoon

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A late bounceback on Chinese stocks didn’t spread to other markets in the region today, as traders reacted to the overnight whomping on Wall Street. The USD remains firm against all the majors although the Australian dollar was able to bounce back a tiny bit this afternoon following the unclear inflation print. Oil markets are trying to stabilise again with Brent crude still hovering just above the $105USD per barrel level while gold is also struggling following the recent slump below the $1900USD per ounce level, as daily momentum remains sharply negative:

Mainland Chinese share markets are the only highlight in the region with the Shanghai Composite closing more than 2% higher at 2958 points while the Hang Seng Index held on for a mild scratch session, up 0.2% at 19973 points. Japanese stock markets are still falling in the wake of a stronger Yen with the Nikkei 225 closing 1% lower at 26386 points while the USDJPY pair remains under pressure as it tries to climb back above the 128 handle after slipping overnight:

Australian stocks ended up a bit better than expected, absorbing the inflation print with the ASX200 losing nearly 0.8% to add to its poor start to a truncated trading week, closing at 7261 points. Meanwhile the Australian dollar has had a mild bounceback following the CPI print, but this was all squandered thereafter as traders remain concerned about what the RBA will actually do:

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Eurostoxx and Wall Street futures are looking listless here as the S&P500 four hourly chart shows price ready to keep heading lower down this frightful set of steps, wanting to get back to the lows around the 4000 point level:

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The economic calendar includes German consumer confidence and US pending home sales.