08:25am  I am planning to be at home today catching up on emails and other work plus I will be scanning my charts from time to time for trading opportunities, any positions I take will be detailed below in my Trading Diary.

Market Update:

European markets shrugged off recent worries over Catalonia during yesterday’s trading session as traders moved into equities and sent the German DAX-30 to another record high. The Spanish IBEX-35 reached its highest level for over a week as concerns that the Catalonian region will declare independence today subsides after anti-independence marches on Sunday brought large crowds out across Spain. In the UK the pound rose sharply after Friday’s fall which was sparked by worries over Theresa May’s future as Prime Minister although any leadership battles seem to be subsiding this week. The FTSE-100 fell on Sterling’s rise as a stronger currency cuts foreign earnings for UK companies when repatriated back into UK pounds, it finished at 7507.89 (-15 points) but is higher this morning at 7519.50.

Tuesday’s overnight Asian trading session closed mainly up despite a lacklustre and low volume session in the U.S. yesterday with the Japanese Nikkei-225 index coming out as the best performer at +0.45% (+93.68 pips) and did reach a 2-year high earlier in the session after trading resumed following a long weekend break. Crude oil values are rising for the second day in a row as OPEC announces that prices are ‘re-balancing’ after a few years of volatility. U.S. WTI Crude rose 30 cents yesterday to close at $49:53 last night and is further up this morning at $49:75.  Gold bounced off its 200-day moving average on Friday and is taking advantage of some sporadic buying as investors in Europe hedge against the Spanish problem. It has risen in price for steadily now over the last two sessions but looks to have found some resistance at the 20-day moving average – watch for a possible trading opportunity around here.

Trading Diary:

10:15am   Noting to see on my collection of favourite charts at the moment so I am off for a cycle ride, back in an hour or so.

13:55pm   I have just entered a ‘long’ position on my S&P-500 chart, it’s a Master-The-Trend Strategy-B setup and my stop loss is 24 pips.

14:50pm   Trades at this time of the day are usually quite quick due to the volatility inherent in the market during the U.S open and my S&P position is no exception, I am now out with a 41 pip profit.

15:15pm   Happy with my ‘score’ so far, so I am switching off my screens for today and will be back here tomorrow morning.