Asian stock markets are having a very solid start to the trading week although Chinese stocks are having a breather given there big surge late last week. Bond markets continue to sell off on mixed signals from both Fed and ECB with another round of primary economic data this week likely to increase volatility. The Australian dollar remains under pressure and lies dormant at the mid 67 cent level while oil prices are holding on to their recent gains with Brent crude still above the $85USD per barrel. Gold has stabilised from its surge last week, sitting just below the $1855USD per ounce level as it breaks out to a new monthly high:
Mainland Chinese share markets are dropping slightly going into the close with the Shanghai Composite down 0.2% but still above the 3300 point barrier while the Hang Seng has flat lined and is currently unchanged at 20556 points. Japanese stock markets are still lifting from last week’s surge with the Nikkei 225 up more than 1% to 28251 points while the USDJPY pair has pulled back again to its recent weekly low, looking to break below key support at the mid 135 level:
Australian stocks have jumped at the open and held on to those gains with the ASX200 closing 0.6% higher to push well above the 7300 point level at 7328 points. The Australian dollar is holding on to its meagre Friday night gains in afternoon trade to reach the mid 67 cent level but is still nowhere out of trouble:
Eurostoxx and US futures are holding on to their own gains from last week as well, with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action wanting to hold on above the 4000 point level which was a key resistance area before the recent breakout. The possibility of a bottoming action has formed solid here after making a two week high:
The economic calendar starts the trading week quietly with the latest Euro-wide retail sales print and US factory orders.