Macro Afternoon

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Asian stock markets are doing well in the final session of the trading week, extending the positive risk sentiment that is climbing again on Wall Street overnight. The latest US GDP figures and earnings reports are surprising to the upside with currency markets still in the main going against King Dollar. Euro however has slipped below the 1.09 handle while the Australian dollar is holding strong above the 71 cent level. Meanwhile oil prices are also in a holding pattern with Brent crude almost above the $88USD per barrel level as gold pulled back further from its overnight selloff, currently just below the $1925USD per ounce level:

Mainland Chinese share markets are closed for Lunar New Year holidays while the Hang Seng is still advancing after its big return yesterday, currently up 0.2% at 22590 points. Japanese stock markets are treading water however, with the Nikkei 225 barely moving at 27381 points with the USDJPY pair also tracking sideways and giving up its minor overnight gains to remain below the 130 level, wanting to breakout but not finding the next kick:

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Australian stocks are pushing higher going into the close with IT leading the way and coal miners dragging, with the ASX200 currently up 0.4% to almost cross 7500 points. The Australian dollar is holding firm at the 71 handle following on from its recent surge on the CPI print with a new weekly and monthly high in the making:

Eurostoxx and US futures are drifting sideways as the S&P500 four hourly chart shows price action wanting to hold above the psychologically important 4000 point zone and looking firm so far. Short term momentum has returned to overbought readings with resistance cleared and new highs in the making:

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The economic calendar ends the week with the latest US Core PCE Index plus consumer confidence figures for January.