by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
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 have seen futures take Asian markets lower in sympathy with global exchanges. Currently, we see HSI, Nikkei and China 300 all lower between 0.3 and 0.6% weaker.
With Asia not providing a direction for the European opening, dealers focused on sentiment and the concerns all Asian indices were closing at or close to their lows. The majority of the day saw all indices in negative territory with the only exception being the UK FTSE which even managed a small positive close.