Bullish Equity Backdrop Persists

A bullish theme in S&P e-minis remains intact and the contract continues to trade closer to its recent highs. Since the October 27 reversal, corrections have been shallow - this is a bullish signal. Note too that moving average studies are in a bull-mode position. A bullish theme in Eurostoxx 50 futures remains intact and the contract has traded higher this week. Resistance at 4387.00, Nov 24 high, was breached on Nov 30 . The break confirms a resumption of the uptrend and maintains the price sequence of higher highs and higher lows.

• Japan's NIKKEI closed lower by 550.45 pts or -1.68% at 32307.86 and the TOPIX ended 35.44 pts lower or -1.5% at 2324.47.
• Elsewhere, in China the SHANGHAI closed higher by 3.353 pts or +0.11% at 2969.559 and the HANG SENG ended 11.52 pts lower or -0.07% at 16334.37.
• Across Europe, Germany's DAX trades higher by 72.26 pts or +0.43% at 16700.39, FTSE 100 higher by 43.63 pts or +0.58% at 7557.58, CAC 40 up 74.26 pts or +1% at 7502.49 and Euro Stoxx 50 up 32.48 pts or +0.73% at 4506.07.
• Dow Jones mini up 32 pts or +0.09% at 36196, S&P 500 mini up 3.75 pts or +0.08% at 4589.25, NASDAQ mini down 1.25 pts or -0.01% at 16037.5.