Despite some relatively positive data on Tuesday, Asian equity markets have been falling away sharply over the course of the trading day.

The Nikkei is currently down 0.27% while the Australian ASX 200 is down more than 0.75%.

Earlier in the day, Australian Business Confidence showed a slight uptick, but it seemed to make little difference to equities or the AUD.

The USD has been a touch weaker today and has helped prop up Asian currencies – however, it was a similar story yesterday. When European and US traders entered, the USD regained some steam.

Japanese Current Account was also positive, along with the Chinese Trade Balance.

Regardless, Asian equities are firmly entrenched in the red.

Large Volume at the Bottom

When looking at the Nikkei, we’ve seen large size trade in the futures, with plenty of buying around the lower support level and high volume. Often that can be a sign that there is a base forming.

This is helping prop up the Nikkei in the short term. Our analysts also have a buy signal out on the Nikkei and it appears the timing is good for a short term rebound.