Most stock markets were up today here in Asia today in response to the record high on Wall Street helped by a new slush fund created by the PBOC to keep Chinese equities elevated. The USD remains firm going into tonight’s US CPI print with the Australian dollar steady just above the 67 cent level.
Oil futures are slowly reducing in volatility as Brent crude tries to steady under the $80USD per barrel level while gold is trying to comeback after its sharp retracement overnight, lifting slightly above the $2620USD per ounce level but not making much headway:
Mainland Chinese share markets are however remaining quite volatile with the Shanghai Composite gaining nearly 2% to break the 3300 point barrier while the Hang Seng Index is up nearly 3% to 21215 points. Meanwhile Japanese stock markets are treading water with the Nikkei 225 closing 0.2% higher at 39380 points as the USDPY pair slowly gets back on trend to remain just above the 149 level:
Australian stocks had a slightly better session with the ASX200 up 0.4% to close at 8222 points while the Australian dollar remains under pressure but is trying to lift above the 67 cent level this afternoon:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are up slightly going into the London session with the S&P500 four hourly chart showing momentum pulling back from the overnight surge:
The economic calendar will focus squarely on the latest US CPI print tonight.