Aussie Dollar Holds Firm Amid US Political Relief

AUD

The Aussie Dollar opens mixed this morning against the majors after what was an uneventful day for local data releases. Asian equities closed weaker during a quiet session ahead of the U.S. Veterans Holiday today, Nikkei -0.1%, Hang Seng -0.2% and Shenzhen -0.9%. The ASX 200 finished -0.2% as financials wore the brunt of selling following a CBA profit miss. Commodities closed mixed with Gold flat, Silver +0.3%, Iron Ore +0.9%, and Copper-0.7%. Yesterday Westpac Consumer Sentiment came in up 13% in November, while NAB Business Confidence dropped slightly. Another quiet day locally with nothing set for release, RBA Assist Gov Jones spoke earlier in the morning however there was nothing of note to mention. All eyes will be focused on our local employment release tomorrow at 11:30am.

USD

AUDUSD opens slightly down this morning at 0.6526 maintaining its 0.65 handle. There was limited data released out of the US due to the ongoing federal government shutdown, although there is hope of an end following the US senate passing a bill to conclude the shutdown. NIFB Small Business Optimism did get released however, printing slightly weaker at 98.2 versus 98.3 expected. There was little reaction from the USD. Wall St. remained steady in the close with the Dow Jones trading +1.1%, S&P 500 +0.3% and the Nasdaq -0.4%. Nothing major set for release today out of the US with only FOMC Member Barr speaking later this afternoon, all eyes will be focused on the ongoing federal government shutdown and the US CPI release which is still set as tentative.
 

EUR

AUDEUR opens flat at 0.5634, with little to no data released. Equites both closed up with the DAX at 0.5% and the CAC up 1.5%. Yesterday we had ZEW Economic Sentiment released at 25.0 up from 22.7 showing investors optimism for the Eurozone. Today we have the German Final CPI m/m expected at 0.3% showing no change from previous month, following will be Italian Industrial Production m/m expected up at 1.5% from previous -2.4%.
 

GBP

The AUD/GBP opened trading at 0.4962, virtually flat from yesterday.  The FTSE closed in the green, up +1.1%. Yesterday, we saw Claimant Count Change at 29.0K, expected at 17.6k and the UK Unemployment Rate rising 0.2% to 5.0%, confirming that the UK labor market is weakening more visibly. Today, no noteworthy data points. Tomorrow, we have GDP m/m expected flat at 0.0% and Prelim GDP q/q expected at +0.2%.
 

NZD

AUDNZD opened weaker, losing roughly 30 basis points from yesterday's open at 1.1546 but is still hovering around that 12 year high mark. Yesterday, Kiwi inflation expectations q/q met expectations at 2.28%. No data set or expected from the Kiwis until their cash rate decision on the 26th.