Macro Afternoon

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Another mixed session on Asian stock markets to finish the trading week with Chinese shares lifting on strong trade figures while Japanese shares are in retreat as the bond market implodes. Meanwhile other stocks are lifting in response to the good response on Wall Street overnight to the declining US inflation situation, with the USD still under the pump against most currency majors. Meanwhile oil prices are holding from their overnight gains with Brent crude just below the $84USD per barrel level while gold is holding strong almost breaking through the $1900USD per ounce level, poised here to breakout to a new high:

Mainland Chinese share markets are moving higher on the trade numbers with the Shanghai Composite currently up 0.6% to remain well above the 3100 point level, currently at 3181 points while the Hang Seng Index is actually putting in a scratch session, up only 0.2% at 21549 points. Japanese stock markets are pulling back sharply as the BOJ tries to shore up the bond market amid a much stronger Yen with the Nikkei 225 currently 1% lower at 26178 points with the USDJPY pair still down significantly below the 130 handle but not making any new session lows yet:

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Australian stocks are holding on to solid gains heading into the close with the ASX200 currently up some 0.6% to 7329 points. The Australian dollar saw a mild selloff in the afternoon, but remains stable at the 69 cent level to remain above the weekly trend channel but looking somewhat overextended:

Eurostoxx and US futures are again slowly lifting higher with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action holding just below the 4000 point level with a series of new daily highs turning this breakout into something interesting. The upper downtrend line has been broken here but the 4000 point level is the one to beat:

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The economic calendar finishes the trading week with UK and German end year GDP figures, and European wide industrial production numbers.