Asian stocks are having mixed returns due to the lack of a lead from Wall Street which was closed overnight due to the long weekend holiday. The USD gave up some ground overnight but is coming back slightly as traders await the latest consumer confidence report. The Australian dollar is trying to hold on to its post weekend gains to be just above the mid 66 cent level.
Oil prices are stable here as Brent crude opens just above the $82USD per barrel level while gold is trying hard to steady itself after the recent steep falls, but losing some ground before the London open to fall below the $2340USD per ounce level this afternoon:
Mainland Chinese share markets are pulling back at the close with the Shanghai Composite down nearly 0.5% while the Hang Seng Index is almost following, so far with just a scratch session to be down 0.1% at 18803 points. Meanwhile Japanese stock markets are putting in a similar return with the Nikkei 225 managing a 0.1% loss to 38855 points as the USDJPY pair is holding steady just below the 157 level:
Australian stocks failed to bounce back, with the ASX200 down nearly 0.3% to 7766 points while the Australian dollar has tried to continue its late Friday night move higher to hold at the mid 66 cent level:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are both up marginally despite the mixed returns here in Asia as we head into the London session. The S&P500 four hourly chart shows price action wanting to get back above the 5300 point level as Wall Street reopens:
The economic calendar continues the trading week with the latest US consumer confidence survey.