Asian share markets all finished in the red as overnight signalling from risk markets continues to provide a sour mood across the complex. US politics continued to dominate risk taking, with Wall Street pulling back overnight as European shares look equally shaky. The USD remains strong against the majors except Yen which continues to appreciate fast while the Australian dollar has now broken below the 66 cent level in the wake of growth concerns in China.
Oil prices are flat with Brent crude unable to get back above the $82USD per barrel level while gold is starting to gain some ground after falling sharply on Friday, heading back above the $2410USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are still going down with the Shanghai Composite losing more than 0.4% while the Hang Seng Index is following suit, down by over 1% to 17278 points. Meanwhile Japanese stock markets joined in on the selling with the Nikkei 225 falling more than 1% to close at 39154 points as the USDJPY pair also continues its decline to break below the 155 level in afternoon trade:
Australian stocks weren’t able to gain momentum with the ASX200 closing dead flat and still below the 8000 point level at 7971 points while the Australian dollar continues its retreat, now breaking below the 66 cent level next as momentum remains oversold:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are down at least 0.5% as we head into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing the recent buy the dip turning into a dead cat bounce as price remains below the previous point of control at the 5700 point level with volatility rising – watch out below as more political machinations turn the wheel:
The economic calendar ramps up tonight with a slew of flash manufacturing and services PMIs on both sides of the Atlantic, plus German consumer confidence and US new home sales.