The selloff from overnight markets has proven contagious here in Asia with drops across the boards, led by Japanese shares. The USD remains very strong against the majors with the Australian dollar about to break the 69 cent level on the mixed unemployment print while Euro has given up all its meagre gains as it begins to rollover below the 1.01 handle again on the way to parity. Meanwhile oil prices are holding steady despite a short term trend below the $100USD per barrel level for Brent crude, while gold is slipping once more having deflated all week as it retraces heavily below the $1800USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are falling with the Shanghai Composite down more than 0.5% going into the close at 3274 points while the Hang Seng Index has joined in, down 0.6% to be back below the 20,000 point level and removing most of its previous session gains. Japanese stock markets did the most heavy selling however, with the Nikkei 225 losing more than 0.8% to close at 28964 points as the USDJPY pair takes another shot at the previous weekly high at the 135 handle:
Australian stocks were the relative winners in the region with the ASX200 closing just 0.2% lower at 7112 points. The Australian dollar absorbed the uneasy unemployment print but is now selling off in the afternoon session, currently just holding here above the 69 cent level against USD:
