Asian stocks are generally directionless as the region picks up mixed cues from Wall Street overnight with the stronger USD and more hawkish Fed keeping risk sentiment at bay. The USD has pushed local currencies around again although the Australian dollar has dropped on today’s consumer sentiment print. Meanwhile oil prices are just holding on to their recent daily lows after recently falling below key support levels, with Brent crude hovering at the $96USD per barrel level, while gold is stable and holding above short term support at the $1780USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are lifting once more heading into the close with the Shanghai Composite up 0.2% to 3244 points while the Hang Seng Index is maintaining a flat position, currently at 20034 points. Japanese stock markets are pulling back sharply however with the Nikkei 225 down 0.8% to 28002 points as the USDJPY pair holds on above the 135 handle:
Australian stocks are again very slowly drifting higher with the ASX200 holding above the 7000 point level, closing just 0.1% higher at 7029 points. The Australian dollar has lost ground on the poor consumer sentiment print, still below the 70 level against USD where it continues to find a lot of resistance:
Eurostoxx and US futures aren’t really moving going into the London session, as the S&P500 four hourly futures chart continues to show hesitation here at the 4150 point level as the relief rally takes a breather with concerns over earnings dominating:
The economic calendar quiet again with the Fed Redbook the only event of note later tonight.