They say that the trend is your friend and the Nikkei is proving that to be the case as Japanese stocks continue to climb upon a break to its highest levels since 1991 this week.

However, that belies the mood elsewhere with AxJ equities showing signs of exhaustion as the Hang Seng is down 0.3% while the Shanghai Composite is down 0.2%.

Meanwhile, US futures are also seen lower with S&P 500 futures down 0.5% with Nasdaq futures seen a little lower by 0.2% as we look towards European trading.

The market feels like it is still trying to figure out whether we are in need for a deeper correction after the manic start to the week or if this is all just a short breather. But either way, there is some element of push and pull taking place for now.