Only Chinese stocks are putting runs on the board here in Asia, while the rest of the region runs for cover as inflationary and recessionary concerns mount. Wall Street and European futures look grim while the USD remains strong against the major currencies with both Euro and Pound Sterling breaking lower while the Australian dollar can’t get off the floor. Oil prices are stable and ready to push slightly higher with Brent crude steady at the $92USD per barrel level while gold keeps making new lows as it remains crushed below the $1700USD per ounce level with no upside momentum, currently at $1621:
Mainland Chinese share markets are building going into the close with the Shanghai Composite up 0.5% as it heads above the 3050 point level while the Hang Seng Index is continue its falls, down the same to 16195 points. Japanese stock markets are also falling back with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.4% lower at 26910 points, while the USDJPY pair is zooming higher as Yen makes a new 30 year low, now just above the 150 level:
Australian stocks are pushing lower and stronger than everything else with the ASX200 closing more than 0.8% lower, retreating below the 6700 point level to finish the week at 6676 points. The Australian dollar is going south according to the script, pushing back to the mid 62 level here it continues to fail to beat the recent highs where resistance lives:
Eurostoxx and US futures are drifting lower as we head into the London session, with the S&P500 four hourly futures chart showing price action ready to flop after failing to get back to the 3800 point level. Medium term and possibly psychological long term resistance at the 4000 point level is a distant memory, with a series of new lows and now negative momentum readings in the short term pointing to more downside volatility:
The economic calendar ends the week with UK retail sales and a US private oil rig count with a few hopefully harmless Fed speeches thrown in the mix.