Geopolitics Dominate in Data Drought

AUD

The Aussie Dollar has slipped against the majors, breaking a two-day winning streak despite optimism over a breakthrough in the US-Australia trade agreement. Both countries recently signed a critical minerals partnership, positioning the deal as a key step towards reducing American dependence on China. Asian equities finished the day in the green, Shenzhen +1.5%, Hang Seng +1% and Nikkei +0.3%. Locally, the ASX 200 climbed +0.7%, with materials and communication sectors leading the pack at +1.7% and +1.2%. Australia's economic diary is empty until the preliminary October PMI at the end of the week. 
 

USD

AUD/USD starts the day at 0.6489, falling over 0.5% from yesterday's highs of 0.6525. A subdued session on Wall St. overnight saw the Dow Jones trading +0.6%, the S&P 500 +0.1%, and the Nasdaq -0.1%. Not much is moving on the US-China trade tensions ahead of the end-of-month scheduled meeting between Trump and Xi. Recently, the US signed a deal with Australia to access its rare earth reserves, which might give the US slightly stronger leverage in negotiations with Beijing. A quiet week on the US data front, with the highlight being consumer inflation (CPI) on Friday evening. The yearly rate is expected to bump up to a 16-month high of 3.1%. The Core figure, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, is also expected at 3.1%.
 

EUR

AUD/EUR opens relatively flat at 0.5594, while the DAX and CAC gained +0.3% and +0.6% respectively. Data scarcity in the Eurozone this week. European Central Bank President Lagarde will be speaking this evening. There's Russia-Ukraine truce speculation, following reports over the weekend about Trump pushing harder for Ukraine to accept Russia's territorial conditions for peace ahead of a potential three-way (Trump, Putin, Zelenskiy) summit in Budapest in the coming weeks. The Euro could see a decent boost in the event a truce is agreed upon.
 

GBP

AUD/GBP starts the day flat at 0.4853, while the FTSE gained +0.2% yesterday. UK CPI is set for release this afternoon, expected at 4.0% y/y, up from 3.8% last month. 4.0% would be the highest inflation rate among the world's largest economies and double the Bank of England's target.
 

NZD

AUZ/NZD has fallen 0.5% from yesterday's highs to open at 1.1301. Very little Kiwi data ahead of their employment report on November 5.