Australian stocks led the way to a new record high today but the rest of Asian share markets were mainly down across the board as risk sentiment continues to shift further into negative space as we all await the Jackson Hole conference tomorrow. The USD remains on a small rally against the majors although Euro is still holding on at the 1.16 handle while the Australian dollar has been pushed to its July lows just above the 64 cent level.
Oil markets are still depressed although Brent crude was able to cross above the $67USD per barrel level while gold is trying to get out of its own depression but is not finding many bids to remain stuck at the $3330USD per ounce level:
Mainland Chinese share markets are relatively steady going into the close with the Shanghai Composite hovering above the 3700 point level while the Hang Seng Index is down 0.3% as it almost crosses below the 25000 point level. Japanese stock markets are falling back again with the Nikkei 225 off by more than 0.5% at 42649 points with the USDPY pair slowly rising towards the mid 147 level this afternoon:
Australian stocks were again the odd ones out in the region with the ASX200 closing up more than 1% higher at a new record high to push above the 9000 point level while the Australian dollar has slipped further towards the 64 handle back to match the July lows:
S&P futures and Eurostoxx futures are down slightly going into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing the market almost rolling over after failing to continue its rebound as momentum dives into negative territory:
The economic calendar continues with a slew of flash PMI prints across both sides of the Atlantic plus US initial jobless claims.