An uneasy first trading session for Asian share markets after a volatile week with Friday’s night poor showing on Wall Street and the still high USD continuing to weigh on risk sentiment. The Australian dollar has remained depressed just above the 65 handle.
Oil prices are pausing their recent breakout as Brent crude remains well above weekly resistance at the $85USD per barrel level while gold has dissipated somewhat after surging through the $2200USD per ounce level, currently just below $2170:
Mainland and offshore Chinese share markets are breaking down after failing to get back on track with the Shanghai Composite off by more than 0.7% while the Hang Seng is down by just 0.2% at 16466 points. Japanese stock markets were the worst performers in the region, with the Nikkei 225 closing more than 1% lower at 40414 points while the USDJPY pair has steadied at just below the mid 151 level:
Australian stocks were the best performers with the ASX200 closing some 0.5% higher to 7811 points while the Australian dollar is barely holding on above the 65 cent level after last week’s volatility surrounding the SNB and BOE meetings:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are barely holding on to their Friday night moves as we head into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action retreating below the 5300 point level with short term support about to come under threat:
The economic calendar starts the trading week quietly again with some new home sales data from the US.