08:40am   My plan today is to be in front of my screens from time to time this morning watching for potential trade set-ups and after lunch it’s out for a game of golf. Any trades I take will be detailed in my Trading Diary below.

Market Update:

U.S. markets ended negatively on Tuesday with the Dow Jones breaking a 6-day bullish trend to close down by 254 points (-1.01%) as Walmart shares falling by over 10%,its worst one day performance for over 10 years. The S&P-500 also closed down but not as bad as the DJ30, it dropped 15.96 points (-0.58%) and both indices are now below their 50-day moving averages with the S&P-500 well on its way to the 2700 ‘big’ number. Later today we have the FOMC meeting minutes so traders will be waiting for any hints about future interest rate hikes before putting on their buying boots on once again.

The overnight Asian trading session was fairly ‘choppy’ but ultimately positive despite the pessimism in U.S. markets earlier in the day. The Japanese Nikkei-225 index closed up 45.71 points (+0.19%) to 21970, helped by manufacturing stocks although tech and auto companies ended slightly down. The Hong Kong stock exchange performed better and closed up by 1.66% with HSBC and China Construction Bank contributing the most gains.  Oil rices are falling this morning after a small rise in the value of the U.S. Dollar and an expected rise in U.S. crude production.  WTI Crude fell 73 cents to $61.52 by last nights close and is now at $61.03 and Brent is down by an equal amount and is looking at a bearish target of $62.00 by the look of price action on the Daily chart.

Gold fell $17.30 yesterday to $1329.50 on a rising U.S. Dollar and tonight’s FOMC minutes announcement will move this chart again although there should be some support at the 50-day moving average around $1320 so watch for some reaction here.

Trading Diary:

09:25am   Nothing much happening on my charts at the moment so off for a quick cycle ride.

12:30pm   Switching my screens off now and off to lunch – then out all afternoon, no trades to report from this morning’s session.  I will be back in front of my charts at the usual time tomorrow morning.