Having suffered yesterday, Asian equities are mainly green today, with yesterday’s unloved markets in favour today. That suggests that choppy range trading and tail-chasing continue to rule the roost as equity markets, ex the FOMO-gnomes of Wall Street, search for a directional answer to sink its teeth into. Wall Street went nowhere overnight, as the US 10-year note auction passing without incident.
Overnight, some long-covering hit Wall Street on a slow news day, with the unchanged, the losing 0.36%, and the easing by 0.16%. In Asia, the range-trade theme continues, with futures on all three creeping higher by just over 0.05% in quiet trading.
In Asia, the and have jumped 1.10% higher, having been unloved yesterday. China markets have received a temporary Balance of Trade scare, with the retreating to unchanged. The has shaved some of its earlier gains but remains 0.55% higher on the day. Hong Kong has shrugged off the China data, rising 1.15% as Alibaba (NYSE:) continues its post-fine rally.
Regionally, Singapore has risen 0.35%, while Kuala Lumpur has fallen by the same. Taiwan is 0.760% higher, while Jakarta has lost 0.55%. Australian markets remain stuck in neutral after the non-descript New York session, with both the and unchanged.
At the periphery, the China trade data is positive for the region. Imports were exploding across almost every sub-sector and rising from the Asian area as a whole. Even if the China export machine is slowing, and the last year was exceptional for several obvious reasons, if domestic consumption is driving imports, that recovery should earn China a pass mark.
Looking at the post-release price action, investors seem more concerned with US Inflation, and the China data dump on Friday. I expect the too and for price action to continue through the rest of the session and into Europe.