The solid start to the trading week has continued for Asian stocks with Chinese stocks playing catchup as risk sentiment improves in the Middle Kingdom. The USD is briefly fading strong against the currency majors going into this week’s all important Fed meeting with Euro still below parity while the Australian dollar was able to get above the 64 handle following today’s mild rate rise by the RBA. Oil prices are coming back with Brent crude almost above the $94USD per barrel level while gold is rebounding from its own overnight slump, lifting back to the start of week position at the $1640USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are rebounding sharply after their recent sharp falls with the Shanghai Composite up nearly 1.3% to 2931 points while the Hang Seng Index has soared higher, up 3% to get back above the 15000 point level at 15155 points. Japanese stock markets are the only sour note in the region with the Nikkei 225 closing just 0.2% higher at 27651 points, while the USDJPY pair has retraced slightly in line with other major currencies, but still holding above the 148 handle:
Australian stocks were able to advance solidly, with the ASX200 closing 1.6% higher, now back above the 6800 point level at 6976 points. The Australian dollar lifted on the 25 bps rate by the RBA to punch through the 64 handle after its decline on Friday night but is still facing flat four hourly momentum so this needs to stick later tonight:
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