Macro Afternoon

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A relatively mixed start o the trading week for Asian stocks in response to very solid session on Wall Street on Friday night, with Chinese stocks the laggards as the USD returns to strength. The Australian dollar has faltered slightly to be just below the 71 cent level while Euro continues to fall going into the London session. Meanwhile oil prices are slipping from their Friday night losing position, with Brent crude retracing further below the $100USD per barrel level, while gold is again proving frustrating with the breakout on Friday night above the $1800USD per ounce level turning into a false move as resistance remains solid at that key level:

Mainland Chinese share markets have gone nowhere throughout the session with the Shanghai Composite finishing at the 3274 point level while the Hang Seng Index has retraced slightly, currently down 0.4% to 20091 points. Japanese stock markets are still surging from their Friday solid session with the Nikkei 225 putting on more than 1% to close at 28871 points as the USDJPY pair goes nowhere, pushing sideways at just above the 133 handle:

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Australian stocks lifted as expected, making a solid start to the trading week, with the ASX200 extending above the 7000 point level to close 0.4% higher at 7064 points. The Australian dollar has retraced slightly from its Friday holding position to fall back below the 71 cent barrier against USD but is still at a new weekly high:

Eurostoxx and US futures are unchanged as we head into the London session, as the S&P500 four hourly futures chart shows price action remaining on trend from the July lows as it extends further above the 4200 point level:

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The economic calendar starts the trading week a very quiet night with some Treasury auctions the only event of note.