Data released this morning and reported by Reuters puts South Korean January unemployment at 4.4 per cent. Though low by Western standards, this is a big jump from December’s 3.8 per cent and a level only exceeded briefly in January 2010. A rise in the minimum wage by 29 per cent over the last 2 years has been blamed in Asia’s fourth largest and notoriously hard-working economy. Others are pointing fingers at trade wars, with South Korean exports dropping for a third consecutive month causing the axe to fall on 170,000 manufacturing jobs over the last year.
Belgium will be a no-fly zone today with no aeroplanes taking off or landing. This is because an air traffic controllers’ strike meant they could not guarantee passenger safety.
DAX 30
The MACD is still bearish despite this week’s little rally. Yesterday Spain’s Santander bank rattled bond markets by skipping a CoCo call repayment. Though just €1.5 billion, it was not what investors had expected. Appetite for this riskier paper has increased a lot since the ECB’s negative interest rate target.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 11180; stop above 11400. First target 10600.
POSITION TAKER: Short at 10955; stop above 11400. Target 9350.
FTSE 100
The commodity channel index has just about turned down but is having little effect on this week’s price action. In fact, this indicator has been unreliable so far this year.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 7115; stop above 7215. Target 6745.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
S&P 500
Overbought again.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Square.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
BRITISH POUND/US DOLLAR
Just about holding the 50 per cent retracement support level and in doing so, helping the commodity channel index to turn up. Retail and consumer prices due later this morning are widely expected to show another small dip.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small long at 1.2935; stop below 1.2825. Target 1.3200.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
EURO/US DOLLAR
A bullish engulfing candle yesterday might help the commodity channel index to turn up.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small long at 1.1335; stop a bit below 1.1285. Target 1.1500.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
GOLD
Unsurprisingly, bullish momentum has completely disappeared as prices go nowhere. Yesterday Venezuela’s President Maduro attacked the Bank of England for sitting on about 80 tonnes of their gold, ‘’they should send a convoy with the dollars they have stolen from us’’.
SHORT TERM TRADER: Small short at 1317; stop above 1328. Target 1240.
POSITION TAKER: Square.
