You could say that Japan has had more than fair share of poor data lately but sadly it continued today after a larger than expected trade data and a further contraction in its (Manufacturing) Purchasing Managers Index. This resulted in an initial 2% decline in the Nikkei in the morning session but only to see a […]

After an initial opening surge in the Nikkei, briefly topping 17k, sellers appeared and drove prices lower to close the day -0.7%. The JPY was weaker throughout the morning session but had also turned stronger to balance the Nikkei swing. With the 10yr JGB having turned negative recently, this will squeeze banks and foreigners in […]

Asia followed the bullish tone provided by the Federal Reserve with a gap higher opening of around 1%. Mainland China and Hang Seng managed to build upon this enthusiasm, eventually closing up almost 2.5% each. The same could not be said of Japan when the Nikkei had problems holding the 17k psychological level. Tomorrow being […]

Janet Yellen signaled that the Fed is grappling with the problem I have been warning about: the dollar has become the de facto currency and the Fed is indeed becoming the world’s central bank. Yellen has admitted that everyone is lobbying the Fed to surrender its domestic policy objectives for international ones. This is precisely […]

Most markets were undecided on which way to play ahead of today’s main event, and so moves were light and limited. Asia saw all core indices tussle between black and red, and with the exception of China all closed pretty much unchanged. Shanghai closed down 1.3% but that was after a late recovery rally at the […]

The Nikkei was the bright spot in Asian equity markets today closing up 0.8% whilst the JPY decline would have cost 0.3% of that gain. It was far better than the declines we saw in mainland China which closed -1.7%. Yuan gained small ground today and was last seen 6.5212. Given the majority of the […]

This time is was Shanghai that bucked the trend after ending the day up +1.1% whilst the Nikkei and Hang Seng closed 1% lower. All core indices moved in a 3%+ range, which is only to be expected these days. Late in the US trading day, we are seeing Asian futures following the strong pattern of […]

The Nikkei re-opened after yesterday’s public holiday but again was sold from the open. The key banks suffered yet more liquidations eventually closing Mitsubishi UFJ -2.3%, SMFG -4.1%, Mizuho -3.7% and the main Nobel House (Nomura) was down 9.2%. Exporters also suffered Toyota, Nissan and Sharp all down between 6 and 10%. The Nikkei closed […]

The Nikkei was again under pressure with the Index closing down 2.4% with financial leading the pack. Shares in Mitsui, SMFG and Mitsubishi UFJ were all down between 4 and 7% on the day. Investors and the street all voicing concerns about the potential profitability given the BOJ’s vision of negative interest rates and the surge […]

Rumors between dealers that Chinese authorities could be about to introduce new incentives to boost property prices saw the Shanghai Index rally 2.3% in today’s trading. The Hang Seng closed marginally firmer also (+0.5%) but only a smidgeon in comparison. The Nikkei did not benefit from a weekly close above the 20k level and so […]