Guarded optimism across Asian stock markets as risk absorbs another weekend of macro volatility and shifts in interest rate speculation as the ECB possibly moves more dovish than the Fed. Earnings season may stall any recovery if the inflationary mood in the US continues with bond markets looking to pull back on yields slightly on the open tonight with the USD still having a safe haven bid, although the Australian dollar is recovering to be well above the 64 cent level.
Oil prices are seeing some reduced volatility for a change with Brent crude stuck at the $87USD per barrel level while gold is trying to recover from its rough retracement overnight, lifting slightly above the $2300USD per ounce level:
Mainland and offshore Chinese share markets remain in divergent mode with the Shanghai Composite off by 0.5% while the Hang Seng Index has gained nearly 1.5% to 16765 points to continue its own strong start to the trading week. Japanese stock markets are having a solid rebound as well with the Nikkei 225 up nearly 0.4% to 37532 points with the USDJPY pair again ready to breakout here above the mid 154 level:
