Australian Shares

Markets in Asia have rebounded having absorbed the Chinese virus fears with a sea of green across stocks and European/US futures looking bullish.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets are getting nervous about the Chinese virus outbreak which sent Wall Street lower overnight while gnashing of teeth in Davos at the World Economic Forum did nothing to persuade further selloffs.

Markets took a sudden dive on risk today here in Asia on the back of the Chinese virus news with Yen safe haven buying exarcebating the fear.

By Chris Becker  A public holiday on Wall Street was enough to take the wind out of the bubble blowers overnight with European markets putting in mild scratch session, while bond markets drifted around.

Asian stock markets are creeping ever higher, lifting by the megabullish sentiment on Wall Street from Friday night with more record highs and new yearly highs the order of the day.

Via Bloomie: The S&P/ASX 200 index has jumped 5.4% this year, besting all equity benchmarks in the developed world, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

By Chris Becker  Another record night on Wall Street as institutional memories of past bubbles are erased and everyone presses the buy button!

It’s all guns blazing, bulls let loose in China shops – well, except China – as Asian stock markets are buoyed by the overnight lift on Wall Street with record highs and new yearly highs the order of the day.

By Chris Becker  Today in Asia, markets will be watching the Chinese Q4 GDP print and have a wave of bullishness behind them if it all goes to plan as Wall Street made yet another record high in the wake of solid retail sales data for December.

Most Asian stock markets remained where they started trading today as the response to the signing of the US/China trade deal was not as bullish as expected.

Let’s examine some charts on the great stock levitation.

By Chris Becker  Depsite the signing of the Phase 1 trade deal between China and the US, sentiment soured overnight with Wall Street just scraping in with scratch session with focus actually on the impending impeachment trial in the Senate.

Most Asian stock markets slipped in trading today as the response to the cooler than expected US CPI print and a much higher Yuan, all in anticipation of the signing of the Phase 1 US/China trade deal takes risk off the table temporarily.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets are trying to make new record highs again but the slightly softer than expected CPI print in the US overnight shook up the complex, with mixed results on Wall Street and scratch sessions across the European continent.

Asian stock markets advanced outside of China as the PBOC substantially lowered the fix of the Yuan which saw it strengthen a lot in offshore trading, now down to 6.87 making a new monthly low.

By Chris Becker  Another bullish day to be expected here in Asia with another record high on Wall Street overnight pushing the risk complex along with tech stocks leading the way.

A mixed start to the trading week here in Asia with only the ASX200 pulling back in response to the small selloff on Wall Street on Friday night, as the rest of the region continued higher.

By Chris Becker  Friday night saw a big reversal in USD as the long awaited US unemployment (non-farm payroll or NFP) print for December showed a much less than expected pace – only 145K jobs created – with a subsequent risk-off mood on Wall Street.

A mixed end to the trading week here in Asia as risk positions for tonight’s US unemployment print that will set the tone for the rest of January, post the Iranian crisis.

By Chris Becker  The relief rally continues as the de-escalation in the US-Iran brouhaha boosted risk sentiment higher, although the recent news of the Ukrainain jet disaster being Iran shooting the jet down will complicate this significantly.

Risk took a calm sigh here today in Asia as the relief rally widened, with stocks rallying hard alongside risk proxies like USDJPY.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets were in relief mode last night as the teleprompter did the talking for Trump, easing off on strikes against Iran, which sent the USD higher against nearly everything and pulled out the stops on Wall Street, although defense stocks were disappointed.

Well it’s been an interesting day to say the least here in Asia for risk markets with the Iranian attack on US bases in Iraq dominating the news and sentiment.

By Chris Becker  Risk markets continue to stumble around in the new year with the latest US economic data surprising slightly to the upside, pushing the USD higher against almost everything, but in particular the Australian dollar which crashed to a monthly low.

There’s a more positive mood across Asia today due to Wall Street brushing aside any concerns about WW3 overnight, as the USD holds firmer across the board.