Asian share markets are seeing a solid finish to the trading week as overnight risk sentiment continued its positive trajectory despite disappointing macro news on both sides of the Atlantic. The USD is slightly higher after being down against everything overnight while the Australian dollar still can’t make much headway as it climbs slightly above the 65 cent level but remains weak on the medium and long term timeframes.
Oil prices are still holding on to their nascent gains this week with Brent crude just above the $83USD per barrel level while gold is still in a depressive mood as it tries to cling to its recent weak bounceback above the $2000USD per ounce level:
Mainland and offshore Chinese share markets remain closed during the Chinese New Year holiday. Japanese stock markets are putting in strong finishes despite the poor GDP print with the Nikkei 225 closing nearly 1% higher at 38512 points while the USDJPY pair has pushed slightly higher as it bounces off short term support to get back above the 150 handle:
Australian stocks are doing well as the trading week comes to a close with the ASX200 up nearly 0.7% at 7568 points while the Australian dollar is holding on to its overnight bounceback to remain just above the 65 cent level:
S&P and Eurostoxx futures are slipping a little from their overnight finishing points but confidence still seems high on the S&P500 four hourly chart showing price action still holding above the 5000 point level:
The economic calendar finishes the trading week with UK retail sales and US housing starts followed by the latest Michigan consumer sentiment survey.