Asian stock markets have finished the trading week in mixed fashion after absorbing a busy economic calendar that will terminate with the latest and very important US jobs figures this evening. The release of the latest RBA statement on monetary policy has seen a reduction in growth and inflation forecasts but the Aussie dollar kept spiralling higher against both USD and Euro as a result. Meanwhile oil prices are trying to bounceback from their depressed mood with Brent crude lifting above the $73USD per barrel level while gold is holding on around the $2050USD per ounce level after its recent strong uplift:
Mainland Chinese share markets have stumbled into the last trading session of the week with the Shanghai Composite down 0.4% to 3334 points while the Hang Seng has gained another 0.6% where it looks like closing above 20000 points. Japanese stock markets remain closed with thin trading in the USDJPY pair as it decelerates into weekly support just below the 134 level, fully retracing its recent epic breakout:
Australian stocks remain under a lot of pressure as the RBA releases its latest SOMP with the ASX200 able to close the week out slightly higher, up 0.3% to 7214 points. The Australian dollar has put in another surge following the SOMP and last night’s indication that the ECB is not going to pause its own rate rises unlike the Fed, with the Pacific Peso also outperforming Euro while it breaks above the 67 handle against USD for a new weekly high:
The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers