Nikkei 225
The Hang Seng index benefitted from the Santa Claus rally like other equities markets as it closed 361.2 points or 1.30%. On the other hand, the Nikkei 225 closed lower by 87.2 points or 0.36% at 23,837.7.
Losses in the Nikkei 225 were led by Japan Tobacco Inc which was down 3.47%. In second was Tokai Carbon Co., Ltd which was in the red by 2.74%. Otsuka Holdings Ltd also incurred a 2.74% loss.
As for currencies, the Aussie and Kiwi traded higher against the dollar as risk appetite dominated market sentiment. AUDUSD is trading roughly 12 pips higher from its opening price at 0.6955. Meanwhile, NZDUSD is up by about 15 pips at 0.6683. Market sentiment was positive in yesterday’s trading on news that the US and China are making progress on their phase one deal. According to the Ministry of Commerce, they are working hard to finalize details of the initial agreement.
USDJPY, on the other hand, is trading lower following better than expected data from Japan. Tokyo’s core CPI for November clocked in higher at 0.8% versus the 0.6% consensus. Meanwhile, the country’s unemployment rate was lower at 2.2% than the 2.4% forecast. Industrial production for the month was also better at -0.9% than the -1.1% estimate.
On the other hand, the country’s retail sales report came in lower at -2.1% than the -1.7% forecast.
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On the daily time frame of AUDNZD, we can see that the currency pair is testing support at the rising trend line (from connecting the lows of March 22 and August 6). If there are enough buyers in the coming days, support around 1.0400 could hold. AUDNZD may then rally to test resistance around the 200 SMA at 1.0570. On the other hand, a bearish close below the trend line could mean that AUDNZD is on its way to its 2019 lows at 1.0260.