Asian stock markets are doing very well heading into the last session of the trading week with Japanese stocks leading the charge as Yen sells off sharply in the wake of the BOJ’s non-policy decision while Australian shares are sliding into the green without much change. European stock futures are up strongly but Wall Street is watching the news around First Republic bank with the stronger USD amid yet another series of very important economic prints coming up dominating currency markets as the Australian dollar flops down to the 66 cent level. Oil prices are stabilising with both WTI and Brent crude lifting slightly with the latter pushing above the $78USD per barrel level while gold is going nowhere as it remains stuck below the $2000USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are lifting going into the close, with the Shanghai Composite up nearly 1% and finally above the 3300 point barrier at 3316 points while the Hang Seng is just chugging along quietly, up 0.2% to almost get above the 20000 level, currently at 19893 points. Japanese stock markets are the best performers in the region on the back of the BOJ actions, with the Nikkei 225 up more than 1.4% at 28850 points with the USDJPY pair zooming straight through the 135 level to make a new monthly high:
Australian stocks put in a steady session with the ASX200 managing to close a little over 0.2% higher, closing at 7303 points. The Australian dollar however failed to turn an early morning rally into anything sustainable and is looking to break below the 66 handle going into the London session where its likely to find more selling:
Eurostoxx futures are up over 0.6% so far heading into the London open with earnings season still dominating risk sentiment for Wall Street as the S&P500 four hourly chart shows price action wanting to hang on to last night’s 2% surge. The psychological level at 4200 points or at least the April highs just below that is the upside target here to reach:
The economic calendar closes out the trading week with German unemployment and inflation, plus Euro-wide flash GDP numbers and US Core PCE figures. A not so quiet session!