Asian share markets have ended the trading week on a mixed note despite the very positive mood from Wall Street overnight. The USD remains under pressure against most of the majors with Yen pushing higher while the Australian dollar is stabilising just above the 67 cent level.
Oil futures have bounced back slightly but price action overall remains very weak as Brent crude pushes above the $72USD per barrel level while gold is holding on to it recent big gains above the $2550USD per ounce level, looking very positive:
Mainland Chinese share markets were up initially but are failing to advance going into the close with the Shanghai Composite barely up while the Hang Seng Index has gained nearly 1% to 17404 points. Japanese stock markets meanwhile are pulling back slightly with the Nikkei 225 down nearly 0.3% at 36731 points while trading in USDPY has seen a return to the mid week lows at the 141 level:
Australian stocks were able to put in some gains to end the trading week on a high note as the ASX200 closed 0.3% higher to extend above the 8000 point level at 8097 points while the Australian dollar is holding above the 67 cent level in afternoon trade:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are slowly building going into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing momentum remaining nicely overbought as resistance at the 5500 point level becomes a distant memory:
The economic calendar is relatively quiet with EZ wide industrial production numbers followed by a US consumer sentiment print.