Things all looked good in Asia with the Nikkei closing up a little over 1%, Hang Seng following its lead gaining 1.2% and so it was only Shanghai that returned a small negative on the day. All was good following the strong US session and so we were lead mostly by energy and miners (BHP on the […]

A disappointing end of the week for core Asian equity markets. The Nikkei opened firmer but by mid-morning had started to crumble as profit-taking and a firmer JPY weighed on prices. We eventually closed the day down 1.4% with Hang Seng not far behind (-1%. The Shanghai index tried desperately to hold on to gains […]

With the US markets having provided the momentum for the opening it was not surprising that Asian equity markets opened with a reluctant bid. Earlier in the day we had heard from the IEA regarding oil supplies and although this was still a discussion point in Tokyo it needed additional enthuses to lift markets higher. This was eventually found in the JPY […]

A positive opening for the Nikkei, trading up +1% at the opening bell but sadly could not hold onto the gains and we eventually closed little changed on the day. The Hang Seng was the poor performer closing down almost 1% whilst Shanghai was a touch better. Asia really had little top topics but we […]

It was a solid day all around the globe which was a little surprising given most markets backed away from yesterday’s gains late in the day. China’s data was marginal given what had been expected, but the positive momentum, strong oil, and a reviving commodity sector made everything feels sunny again. The Nikkei has recovered […]

China’s trade balance (released overnight) was not great (Est. $40bn but the actual release was $45.56bn and exports contracted 1.8% in April) and had a negative effect on equities from the open. The Nikkei and Hang Seng were heavily influenced by oil’s rally given the very sad news of the Alberta fire incident. Japan and […]

A couple of rumors and some nerves ahead of the all important US Non-Farms Payrolls. In mainland China there were rumors that local regulators may want to delay mainland listings of mainland US listed Chinese companies. We will follow-up on this rumor when we hear more information. Shanghai index closed down 2.8% and the Shenzhen B closed down 3.6%. Europe traded sub-par […]

A relatively quiet night in Asia with China PMI (51.8%) marginally under the April  52.2% reading. Although this had a short-term influence just ahead of lunch but it really did not alter the bounce and we closed the session marginally better. Hang Seng however, was lower on the day closing down 0.37%, which actually was not a bad […]

  With Japan still closed the enthuses continues to concentrate on the US Dollars turnaround! The Australian ASX closed down 1.6% as BHP lost 6.5% on rumors of a large civil lawsuit in Brazil. Mainland China closed almost unchanged on the day whilst the Hang Seng lost 0.7% and these a direct result of a dollar […]

A morning where PMI’s (Purchasing Managers Index) continue to rule the markets. China’s reaction was somewhat muted after mainland index rallied to close with a strong 1.85% performance but that was countered by the Hang Seng dropping 1.8%. The RBA surprised the markets with a 25bp cut in rates to take key rates back to 1.75%. […]