by Martin Armstrong
Armstrong Economics
All in all, it has been a rather uneventful day all the way from Asia through to the US. With much data on the horizon this week for China both the Shanghai and Hang Seng gaveup ground ahead of any surprises. Both indices finished the day around 0.8% lower, so it was left to the Nikkei to provide a beam of light closing positive +0.25%. Late in US trading the Nikkei has returned that move as the JPY has broken back below the 104 handle as safe-haven bids become the afternoon talk.
Europe opened heavy having seen the Asian session with sentiment uncertain yet again. The Italian banking sector was a hot topic of debate after shareholders approved a merger between Banco Poplare and Banca Popolare di Milano on Saturday. Interestingly, only the FTSE MIB closed in positive ground today.