Good morning. Great when a trade goes exactly according to play isn’t it, and the long from 6612 yesterday worked ideal, all closing at 6657. The news flow has generally turned upbeat again so we should get some rises, probably up to the NFP news on Friday. As mentioned earlier this week, the FTSE will be underpinned to attract S&S ISA money in, so unlikely to drop loads this week, before 5th April. We may well see a repeat of yesterday with the pivot at 6637 holding as support with a push towards 6700. The longer term Bianca channels (we dropped off the 10 day at 6557 yesterday) are now showing 6671 and 6682 as channel tops (20 and 10 day respectively).
Asia Overnight from Bloomberg
Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index extending its winning streak to a sixth day, after an increase in U.S. manufacturing boosted optimism about growth in the world’s biggest economy.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 139 as of 12:10 p.m. in Tokyo as more than five shares rose for every three that fell. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index advanced to a record yesterday after the Institute for Supply Management’s index rose to 53.7 in March from 53.2 in February, showing manufacturing was expanding as a winter-depressed first quarter ended.
“Economic data was constructive for market bulls as it painted a picture of a gradually improving U.S. manufacturing sector,” Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research in Sydney at Perpetual Investments, wrote in a note. “There were solid rises in forward orders and production, which suggests that the weather slowdown could be clearing in March.”
Japan’s Topix (TPX) index added 1.2 percent after the yen yesterday fell for a fourth day against the dollar. Japanese companies have signaled confidence in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to stamp out deflation. Consumer prices will rise 1.5 percent over the next 12 months, and 1.7 percent in three years and in five years, according to companies surveyed for the Bank of Japan’s Tankan.
Regional Gauges
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 0.2 percent, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in the city lost 0.5 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.2 percent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.1 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.1 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex index rose 0.3 percent and Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.1 percent.
Futures on the S&P 500 index rose 0.1 percent today. The measure gained 0.7 percent yesterday. A private report today is projected to show U.S. employers added more workers last month before non-farm payrolls data due April 4.
U.S. reports from employment to factory output had shown weakness this year as freezing temperatures and snow kept shoppers indoors, grounded flights and made it harder for shippers to fill product orders.
Yellen’s Comments
The signs of economic improvement come as Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on March 31 signaled the central bank’s unprecedented monetary stimulus would be needed for “some time” because of “considerable slack” in the labor market. She cited large numbers of partly unemployed workers, stagnant wages, lower labor-force participation and longer periods of joblessness.
FTSE Outlook
I expect that this bull run will continue for the moment, certainly we have a pretty decent 30 minute channel in play and the 10 day channels are pretty firmly up. The level likely to cause a bit of a stutter today is the 6671 area, being the 20 day Bianca channel top. There is also the daily coral there, so a couple of hurdles the bulls will need to hum,o to push to 6700/6715, which is looking were this run might end. If the pivot were to break then a drop to 6620 is possible but likely to act as support. We have the bottom of the 30 minute channel there as well.