Asian Markets South On Syrian Tensions

Asian equities moved lower today as support for a strike on Syria is growing within the Congress of the United States.

The President met with key Congressional leaders who backed his plan for a limited strike on Syria for using chemical weapons. Obama reiterated there would be no troops on the ground and no repeat of Iraq or Afghanistan. House Speaker John Boehner is supporting the president and will encourage others to do the same.

STOCKS
The Nikkei 225 was down 0.8 percent from yesterday three week high, however osses were limited as the yen continues to flirt with $100 versus the Dollar. The Australian S&P/ASX lost o.7 percent and the Kospi in South Korea is now below 1,930 points as it fell almost five points on the day. The Shanghai was flat for the day.

Markets in the U.S> closed higher, mildly, during a choppy trading session after returning from the long Labor Day Weekend. The Dow Jones was up 23.65 points to finish at 14,833.96. We are still below the 15,000 level, which is concerning. Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) was down four and half percent after announcing the $7.2 billion purchase of Nokia’s handset business. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will rejoin the company and become the leading candidate to replace current Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

The S&P 500 rose 6.80 points to close at 1,639.77 and the NASDAQ rose 22.74 points to finish at 3,612.61. Gains were capped by investor tensions over a strike on Syria.

European markets closed mostly lower, but shares of Nokia (NYSE:NOK) surged up 31 percent on the news that Microsoft was buying its handheld business, see above notes on Microsoft.

CURRENCIES
The EUR/USD (1.3165) was down a bit yesterday as we are targeting 1.3000. Below that can test 1.2800 and then lower. If 1.3000 holds, we will continue our consolidation pattern till the FOMC meets on September 18. The EURGBP (0.8457) ticked up a bit as UK construction increased to 59.1. The USD/JPY (99.61) is still moving up, good news for Japan, we are testing 100.00 with a break higher targeting 110.00. See the chart below.

AUD/USD (0.9097) moved higher, as expected. The Royal Bank of Australia (RBA) left rates in changed. The GDP, released today, grew better than expected at 0.6 percent. The economic news is supporting the Aussie. We could be targeting 0.9500 at this point.

COMMODITIES
Gold (1412.70) has moved higher after support at 1375 held. We could now target 1420. Silver (24.165) is trading near the key level at 25, which if holds can see silver falling to 22.00.

WTI Brent Crude (115.72) has moved higher after finding support at 115.00. We could be targeting 120 as long as the level at 115 holds.

TODAY’S OUTLOOK
Markets are going to be volatile this week as we are waiting on tomorrow’s job cut report and ADP employment numbers out of the U.S. Today we see mortgage applications and the Fed’s Beige Book.