Asian stock markets are pulling back given the lack of an overnight lead from Wall Street due to the 4th of July holiday, and also a very light economic calendar without any real catalysts. Currency markets are still feeling the weight of a stronger USD but they are largely unchanged with the Australian dollar still unable to climb above the 67 cent level vs USD following yesterday’s pause by the RBA.
Oil prices are still not moving higher as expected given the OPEC/Ruzzia production cuts, with Brent crude hovering just below the $76USD per barrel level while gold is looking better but moving steady at just above the $1920USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are falling again after failing to translate their solid start to the trading week with the Shanghai Composite off by more than 0.5% at 3227 points while the Hang Seng Index is down more than 1.5% to 19124 points.
Japanese stock markets are selling off the least, with the Nikkei 225 closing just 0.2% lower at 33339 points with the USDJPY pair basically unchanged like most of the major currency pairs but still wanting to push above the 144 level:
Australian stocks took back more than half of their recent gains following the RBA pause with the ASX200 closing 0.4% lower at 7253 points. The Australian dollar was trying to get above the 67 handle vs USD but is finding it hard in the afternoon session, currently back at its Monday morning starting point:
Eurostoxx futures are about 0.3% lower alongside S&P futures due to the poor mood here in Asia as traders return to Wall Street from their holiday. The S&P500 four hourly chart is still holding well above previous ATR resistance at the 4400 point level:
The economic calendar includes mainly tertiary releases like final PMI prints but the latest FOMC minutes should be published early tomorrow morning.