Stocks Maintain Firmer Tone into Final Session of the Week

S&P e-minis maintain a firmer tone. The contract traded sharply higher Tuesday, and is holding on to this week’s gains. Resistance at 4415.25, a trendline drawn from the Jul 27 high, has been cleared. A short-term bull cycle in Eurostoxx 50 futures remains intact and the contract is holding on to this week’s gains. Price has recently cleared resistance at both the 20- and 50-day EMAs - a bullish development.

• Japan's NIKKEI closed higher by 160.79 pts or +0.48% at 33585.2 and the TOPIX ended 22.43 pts higher or +0.95% at 2391.05.
• Elsewhere, in China the SHANGHAI closed higher by 3.439 pts or +0.11% at 3054.365 and the HANG SENG ended 378.63 pts lower or -2.12% at 17454.19.
• Across Europe, Germany's DAX trades higher by 92.45 pts or +0.59% at 15878.6, FTSE 100 higher by 63.98 pts or +0.86% at 7474.93, CAC 40 up 50.31 pts or +0.7% at 7218.71 and Euro Stoxx 50 up 26.22 pts or +0.61% at 4328.67.
• Dow Jones mini up 78 pts or +0.22% at 35097, S&P 500 mini up 8.5 pts or +0.19% at 4531.5, NASDAQ mini up 4.5 pts or +0.03% at 15901.5.