Asian stocks remain volatile after the sharp selloffs that started the trading week with Chinese shares moving lower due to the poorer than expected manufacturing PMI print, while the USD remains strong against the majors after last night’s upside surprise in consumer confidence. Euro tried to break out above parity again while the Australian dollar also tried to get back above the 69 cent level but both remain under duress. Meanwhile oil prices are holding on to their overnight losses with Brent just above the $98USD per barrel level while gold is still retracing after its Friday night slump, now back to the $1720USD per ounce level and in line with its previous new weekly low:
Mainland Chinese share markets took a hit with the latest manufacturing PMI print with the Shanghai Composite down 0.8% to 3200 points while the Hang Seng Index was able to lift nearly 0.3%, closing at 19968 points as it struggles to get back above the 20,000 point level again. Japanese stock markets have failed to bounce back with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.3% lower at 28091 points while the USDJPY pair remains overextended as it hovers at the mid 138 level:
Australian stocks have managed to almost eke out a scratch session with the ASX200 closing just 0.1% lower but still remaining below the 7000 level, finishing at 6986 points. The Australian dollar has bounced back slightly after revisiting its previous weekly low at the mid 68 level but looks anemic at best here:
Eurostoxx and US futures are going nowhere as we head into the London session, with the S&P500 four hourly futures chart showing price action seemingly ready to break sharply lower below the 4000 point level. The four hourly chart shows momentum retracing from its formerly extremely overextended position, with almost zero chance of a swing higher here:
The economic calendar includes German unemployment, the latest flash Euro Core CPI print, then a few more Fed speeches to watch out for.