Asian stock markets are in the main enjoying a solid start to the trading week, despite the weak lead from Wall Street on Friday night. US and European stock futures are up slightly while the USD remains somewhat weak against most of the undollars. The Australian dollar is holding on just above the 67 handle but remains weak compared to the other undollars while oil prices have lost a little ground with Brent crude just above the $86USD per barrel level. Gold is still holding well above the $2000USD per ounce level despite the failed breakout on Friday night:
Mainland Chinese share markets are climbing steadily going into the close, with the Shanghai Composite up more than 1.2% to almost get through the 3400 point barrier at 3378 points while the Hang Seng has lifted a near equal amount, currently up 1.2% at 20674 points. Japanese stock markets have lost a little bit of confidence with the Nikkei 225 closing just 0.1% higher at 28514 points while the USDJPY pair has been able to translate its Friday night bounce into something more sustainable as it heads towards the 134 level again:
Australian stocks had a modest start to the trading week with the ASX200 finishing nearly 0.3% higher to almost cross the 7400 point level at 7381 points. The Australian dollar gapped down ever so slightly following its Friday night pullback but has managed to maintain a small position above the 67 handle, now at the mid range of control between support at 66.20 and resistance at the 68 handle:
Eurostoxx and US futures are up about 0.2% or so with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action ready to burst out above overhead resistance after clearing a point of control at the 4150 point level. The next psychological level to clear is obviously 4200 points, so watch for a breakout tonight:
The economic calendar starts the trading week relatively quietly with not much on the agenda tonight, with a few bond auctions and ECB speeches to keep an eye on.