Asian share markets are still trying to get a wriggle on as the trading week starts to wind down following some potential progress on the rare earth US-China trade war while the latest unemployment print locally is resetting the chances of more RBA rate cuts although the Australian dollar remains resilient against a very weak USD.
Oil markets are still depressed with Brent crude holding around the $62USD per barrel level while gold continues to soar higher as it lifts well above the $4200USD per ounce level with the weekly chart going parabolic:
Mainland Chinese share markets are basically unchanged going into the close with the Shanghai Composite steady while the Hang Seng Index is down 0.7% at 25725 points. Japanese stock markets are doing better despite the stronger Yen with the Nikkei 225 looking to close more than 1% higher at 48264 points with the USDPY pair sliding back down to the 151 level:
Australian stocks lifted again despite the bad unemployment news with the ASX200 closing 0.8% higher at 9068 points while the Australian dollar has rolled over on the expectation of another potential rate cut from the RBA as it settles below the 65 cent level against USD:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are steady as we head into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing the market wanting to get back on track after the slump on Friday night, trying to fulfil the TACO trade:
The economic calendar is relatively quite tonight apart from the latest US retail sales figures and some more speeches from Fed and ECB members.