E-Minis Pop Higher, No Headlines Observed

Little to note as S&P 500 e-minis breach their Friday peak, more than reversing the early, limited Asia-Pac downtick (the latter was likely a product of the underwhelming annual GDP growth target out of China). Similar moves were seen in NASDAQ 100 & DJIA e-minis.

• Recent headline flow has centred on communique coming out of China’s NPC, with officials flagging belief in the attainment of the country’s GDP and inflation goals, alongside the steady improvement of the economy.
• We would point to the potential for the modest richening in U.S. Tsys having a delayed impact on the space, exacerbated by the breach of Friday’s high after the move at the tail end of last week resulted in a close above the S&P 500 e-mini’s 20- & 50-day EMAs. That leaves bulls focused on the Feb 17 high in the contract as the next area of technical resistance.
• A bounce in the Hang Seng and the potential for short squaring ahead of this week’s tier 1 event risk may also have contributed to the move (while mainland Chinese equities remain comfortably below unchanged on the day).