FRANCE T-BILL AUCTION PREVIEW: On offer next week

A bear cycle in WTI futures remains intact and the latest bull phase appears to be a correction. This short-term corrective cycle remains in play and Tuesday’s rally reinforces this theme. Initial resistance to watch is $66.56, the Aug 4 high. Key short-term resistance has been defined at $69.36, the Jul 30 high. Clearance of this level would cancel a bear theme. A resumption of weakness would pave the way for a move towards $57.71, the May 30 low. Gold remains in a clear bull cycle. This week’s gains have resulted in a breach of key resistance at $3500.1, the Apr 22 high, and delivered a fresh all-time high in the yellow metal. The break confirms a resumption of the primary uptrend and an extension of the sequence of higher highs and higher lows. The next objective is the $3600.00 handle. Initial firm support to watch lies at $3396.2, the 20-day EMA.

• WTI Crude down $0.15 or -0.23% at $65.43
• Natural Gas down $0.03 or -1.1% at $2.976
• Gold spot up $7.24 or +0.2% at $3540.08
• Copper down $0 or 0% at $464.05
• Silver down $0.07 or -0.17% at $40.7962
• Platinum down $14.54 or -1.03% at $1396.04

The primary trend set-up in Eurostoxx 50 futures is bullish and the pullback from the Aug 22 high appears corrective. However, the contract has breached 5372.85, the 50-day EMA. The clear break of this average strengthens a short-term bearish threat and signals scope for a deeper retracement towards 5166.00, the Aug 1 low and a key support. On the upside, initial resistance to watch is 5392.75, the 20-day EMA. A bull cycle in S&P E-Minis remains intact and the latest pullback is - for now - considered corrective. Price has traded through the 20-day EMA. The key support to watch lies at the 50-day EMA, at 6336.02. A clear break of this EMA is required to signal scope for a deeper retracement. This would open 6239.50, the Aug 1 low and a key support. Moving average studies still highlight a dominant uptrend. The bull trigger is 6523.00, the Aug 28 high.

• Japan's NIKKEI closed lower by 371.6 pts or -0.88% at 41938.89 and the TOPIX ended 32.99 pts lower or -1.07% at 3048.89.
• Elsewhere, in China the SHANGHAI closed lower by 44.576 pts or -1.16% at 3813.557 and the HANG SENG ended 153.12 pts lower or -0.6% at 25343.43.
• Across Europe, Germany's DAX trades higher by 131.7 pts or +0.56% at 23619.2, FTSE 100 higher by 34.78 pts or +0.38% at 9151.14, CAC 40 up 76.31 pts or +1% at 7730.4 and Euro Stoxx 50 up 45.24 pts or +0.86% at 5336.02.
• Dow Jones mini down 21 pts or -0.05% at 45330, S&P 500 mini up 24 pts or +0.37% at 6449.5, NASDAQ mini up 133.25 pts or +0.57% at 23408.25.

• MNI: EUROZONE JUL PPI +0.4% M/M, +0.2% Y/Y (VS +0.8% M/M, +0.6% Y/Y JUN)