Talking Points:
- Asian stocks were higher across the board Monday
- Strong local data from China and Japan helped lift the mood
- The Euro wilted on news of violence around a regional independence vote in Spain
Check out the traded-currency retail pecking order as it stands right now at the DailyFX Sentiment Page
Asian stock markets traded higher Monday, despite news of a violence surrounding a hotly disputed referendum in Spain’s Catalonia region.
Chinese markets out for the Autumn Festival and National Day holidays and South Korea was also absent. Australian markets were also thinned by a holiday break in some states. However, the Asian data were encouraging, from a weekend snapshot of Chinese manufacturing to a Tankan survey which found major Japanese manufacturers feeling more confident than they have for ten years.
The Nikkei 225 closed up 0.2% with the ASX in Sydney up 0.8% as better Asian data put the focus on possible raw material demand ahead.
The US Dollar rose a little through the session with the Euro struggling with that Catalan vote. The region has declared a win in the independence vote, which Spain sees as both unconstitutional and illegal, putting the European Union as a whole in a bind. Brussels will not wish to be seen as disloyal to the constitution of a major member state, or deaf to the demands of Catalans.
However gold prices plumbed seven-week lows, despite this heightened risk, as the US Dollar and stocks gained. Crude oil prices slipped back after rising last week on hopes of greater balance between supply and demand in the weeks ahead.
The rest of the global session offers various Purchasing Managers Index releases, which usually draw a crowd in the markets. They are coming up from the UK and Canada, with the broadly similar survey from the US Institute for Supply Management also due.
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX
