Asian stock markets are generally higher across the region but still lack confidence following the hawkish Fed Chair Powell as well as absorbing some less than stellar Japanese GDP and Chinese inflation numbers in today’s session. The Australian dollar has bounced a little off its recent oversold lows to just get back above the 66 cent level while oil prices remain under pressure with Brent crude still below the $83USD per barrel as gold holds on to its own depressed new low at the $1810USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets sold off going into the lunch break and remain slightly down going into the close with the Shanghai Composite off by 0.2% to remain below the 3300 point barrier at 3276 points while the Hang Seng is treading water to hover just above the 20000 points level. Japanese stock markets however remain the standout by extending last week’s surge with the Nikkei 225 up 0.5% to 28577 points while the USDJPY pair has pulled back from its own overbought gains to retrace below the 137 138 handle:
Australian stocks lack any desire to push forward with the ASX200 barely closing in the green to remain just above the 7300 point level at 7311 points. The Australian dollar lifted in afternoon trade on the Chinese inflation print but is still well under the pump here at just above the 66 cent level:
Eurostoxx and US futures are holding on to their respective moves from last night, with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action tentatively hovering below the 4000 point level as this bull trap remains closed. The possibility of returning to the February bottom at 3940 points is quite high:
The economic calendar really only includes US weekly initial jobless claims tonight, with the BOJ meeting tomorrow.