A sea of red across Asian stock markets today with risk sentiment moving from unsettled to negative as we head into a very busy economic calendar full of central bank meetings and the latest earnings on Wall Street. Currency markets are experiencing a strong revival in the USD with Euro pushed well below the 1.09 handle while the Australian dollar has lost further ground with today’s poor retail sale figures, now dicing with the 70 cent level. Meanwhile oil prices are breaking down from their holding pattern with Brent crude about to cross below the $86USD per barrel level as gold also falls back a little to its Friday night lows, currently just above the $1920USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are playing catchup with the negative mood with the Shanghai Composite down nearly 0.5% to 3254 points while the Hang Seng has continued its slump to fall over 1% and cross below the 22000 point level. Japanese stock markets are slipping again, with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.2% lower at 27372 points with the USDJPY pair oscillating around the 130 level without any momentum:
Australian stocks have again gone nowhere with a scratch session in response to the retail sales print as the ASX200 stays below the 7500 point level. The Australian dollar is accelerating its falls from the start of the week to almost cross below the 70 handle, with short term momentum crossing into oversold territory with support now at a critical juncture before the Fed meeting:
Eurostoxx and US futures are drifting further downwards as the S&P500 four hourly chart shows price action needing to hold above the psychologically important 4000 point zone, but is slipping fast. Short term momentum is now in the negative zone which could spell some short term trouble before this week’s Fed meeting:
The economic calendar starts off with German unemployment, then Euro area flash GDP print followed by US consumer confidence.