Equity Futures Consolidate Close to Recent Highs

A bullish EUROSTOXX 50 futures outlook remains intact and the contract is holding on to its recent gains. Resistance at 3810.00, the Aug 17 high and an important bull trigger, has recently been breached, strengthening the case for bulls. Furthermore, moving average studies remain in a bull mode set-up, highlighting positive market sentiment. The focus is on 3944.00, Mar 29 high on the continuation chart. Initial firm support lies at 3697.00, the Nov 10 low. The short-term outlook in S&P E-Minis remains bullish. Price is consolidating and a bull flag has appeared on the daily chart - a continuation pattern. Recent gains resulted in a break of 3928.00, the Nov 1 high. This has established a positive price sequence of higher highs and higher lows on the daily scale. The focus is on 4100.00 next. Initial firm support lies at 3865.69, the 50-day EMA.

• Japan's NIKKEI closed higher by 170.95 pts or +0.61% at 28115.74 and the TOPIX ended 22.18 pts higher or +1.12% at 1994.75.
• Elsewhere, in China the SHANGHAI closed higher by 3.899 pts or +0.13% at 3088.943 and the HANG SENG ended 231.5 pts lower or -1.31% at 17424.41.
• Across Europe, Germany's DAX trades higher by 58.64 pts or +0.41% at 14438.82, FTSE 100 higher by 59.54 pts or +0.81% at 7436.13, CAC 40 up 14.05 pts or +0.21% at 6648.5 and Euro Stoxx 50 up 12.87 pts or +0.33% at 3922.15.
• Dow Jones mini down 7 pts or -0.02% at 33729, S&P 500 mini down 2.75 pts or -0.07% at 3955.25, NASDAQ mini down 18.5 pts or -0.16% at 11569.75.