Asia Morning: The Santa rally continues….slowly

The few markets that were open on Boxing Day in Asia remained in buoyant mood, extending the theme from before Christmas. US index futures advanced between 0.10% and 0.13%, mostly recouping all of the December 24 losses. The Japan225 index outperformed with gains of 0.36%. China shares were also positive, basking in the aftermath of a rollback of at least some of the import tariffs, rising 0.17% on the day.

In the currency markets, a mild risk-on theme though volumes were extremely light due to the holidays. AUD/USD rose 0.06% to 0.6928, consolidating its push above the 200-day moving average at 0.6903 this week. The Japanese yen was marginally lower, with USD/JPY up 0.13% and AUD/JPY gaining 0.24%.

AUD/USD Daily Chart

Source: OANDA fxTrade

A minor data day

As you might expect, the data calendar for today is rather sparse, with Singapore’s industrial production for November the possible highlight. That’s expected to rise 1.1% m/m following October’s 3.4% gain. Japan’ housing starts for November are also due, but will probably be ignored.

A holiday in Canada means that the North American calendar is restricted to the US weekly jobless claims (224,000 versus 234,000 last week).

The full MarketPulse data calendar can be viewed at https://www.marketpulse.com/economic-events/

Wishing all a (continued) Merry Christmas.

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