Its green across the board for Asian share markets due to the strong lead from Wall Street overnight with a new month getting the bids going while Japanese stocks close at fresh record highs. The USD is still firming from the overnight inflation print although the Australian dollar has found some life later in the afternoon.
Oil prices are trying to claw back recent losses but Brent crude is stalled just above the $82USD per barrel level while gold is slowly building higher, advancing above the $2040USD per ounce level as it pushes aside short term resistance:
Mainland and offshore Chinese share markets are having somewhat of a breather with the Shanghai Composite up just 0.3% while the Hang Seng is barely moving higher at 16532 points. Japanese stock markets are the front runners with the Nikkei 225 up 2% to almost push through the 40000 point level while the USDJPY pair has broken out above the 150 handle on the strong USD:
Australian stocks are moving higher as well with the ASX200 up more than 0.6% to break the 7700 point level, closing at 7745 points while the Australian dollar has tried to rebound this afternoon, just making it above the 65 cent level:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are looking positive as we go into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action about to cross the 5100 point level:
The economic calendar ramps up again with Euro core inflation and the latest US ISM manufacturing PMI print.