08:20am   I really need to assist with house renovations so no trading for me today/tomorrow but if all goes well I should be back in front of my charts on Friday.

Market Update:

U.S. markets once again closed at record highs and yesterday was due to the Senate Budget Committee approving Trump’s tax reform plans which paves the way for the bill to progress further.  The Dow Jones 30 index rose by 255.93 by the close to finish at 23,836.71 (+1.09%) and the wider S&P-500 was up almost a similiar amount with financial stocks leading the bullish momentum.  The S&P-500 is sitting just above the 2625 resistance level this morning so watch for trading opportunities later once markets open for Wednesday’s session.

The overnight Asian trading session was fairly bullish as well on the back of the U.S. performance although there was a certain amount of selling during the night due to news that North Korea have launched another ballistic missile into the seas adjacent to Japan. Although there was a sudden market reaction after the announcement, it seems as though most traders shrugged off concerns and most indices closed in positive territory.  Gold often has an inverse relationship with equity markets but a weak Dollar has boosted the price despite higher indices so an expected large fall did not materialise although it is sititng around a long term support/resistance level at $1296 this morning so watch for trading opportunities.

Oil values are falling for the first time since the middle of the month and with the start of OPEC talks today there the prospect of market volatility for the rest of the week as news announcements will come randomly as decisions are made. There is some speculation that any agreement for production cuts between member countries and Russia is going to be tricky pin down and higher oil inventories in the U.S  this week is adding to the bearish pressure.  U.S. WTI Crude is down at $57:71 this morning after reaching a high of $59:01 on Friday.