Asian stocks continue the move higher following the hawkish US Fed's Powell

Equities in the Pacific-Asia window are continuing Tuesday's bull move as the US Fed's Powell delivers a bullish outlook.
China equities are pushing higher, but are restrained as US-China tensions remain unresolved.

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

Asian stock markets are on the upside following a bullish showing from the US Fed's chairman Jerome Powell, but a subdued undertone remains in Chinese indexes.

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell give a hawkish stance in the first day of his testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, talking up the positive aspects of the US economy's growth metrics looking foward, and downplaying potential negative fallout from the ongoing US-China trade spat. Equity markets reacted largely positive, and the positive twist to indexes is carrying over into the Asian market session, though Chinese stocks are seeing smaller gains for the day.

Japan's Nikkei 225 is up 0.90% so far for Wednesday, with the Tokyo Topix index up for 0.70%, while Australia's ASX 200 is likewise up 0.70%; Chinese equities are in the green, but relatively more sedate, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index up about 0.60% with the Shanghai CSI 300 up around 0.35%.

Nikkei 225 levels to watch

July has seen a bullish recovery for Japan's leading equity index, and resistance is sitting nearby at June's highs of 23,000.00, with January's all-time peak of 24,180.00, while a bearish turnaround will be faced with June's lows at 22,030.00 and July's technical bottom at 21,475.00.

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

EUR/USD climbs to daily highs near 1.1820

EUR/USD now picks up pace and advances to the area of daily peaks north of the 1.1800 barrier at the end of the week. The pair’s decent move higher comes against the backdrop of a generalised lack of direction in the FX galaxy and the mild offered stance in the US Dollar.

GBP/USD trims losses, retests 1.3460

After briefly challenging its key 200-day SMA near 1.3440, GBP/USD now manages to regain some balance and revisit the 1.3460 zone on Friday. Cable’s pullback comes as the selling pressure on the Greenback gathers traction, reigniting some recovery in the risk-linked space.

Gold flirts with four-week highs past $5,200

Gold extends its rebound, climbing for a third consecutive session and pushing back above the $5,200 mark per troy ounce on Friday. The move higher continues to draw support from lingering geopolitical tensions and the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, both of which are keeping safe-haven demand firmly in play.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple consolidate with short-term cautious bullish bias

Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple are consolidating near key technical areas on Friday, showing mild signs of stabilization after recent volatility. BTC holds above $67,000 despite mild losses so far this week, while ETH hovers around $2,000 after a rejection near its upper consolidation boundary.

Changing the game: International implications of recent tariff developments

The Supreme Court ruling on International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) tariffs provides limited relief for the rest of the world, with weighted average tariff rates modestly lower.

Starknet unveils strkBTC, shielded Bitcoin transactions on Ethereum Layer 2

Starknet, the Ethereum Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, today announced strkBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin asset that introduces optional shielding while preserving full DeFi composability.