AUD Trades Sideways With Minimal Data

AUD

The Aussie Dollar has been very stable against the majors, seeing commodities close up strong. Other than Iron Ore dropping 0.5%, there was gains across the board with Oil up 1%, Gas up 2.4%, Gold up 0.1%, Silver up 2.5% and Copper up 0.9%. Asian equities saw soft gains, with the ASX and the SHANGHAI Comp closing up 0.4%. Private Sector Credit m/m came in as expected at 0.6%, down from 0.7% and Chinese Foreign Direct Investment ytd/y read -7.5% from -10.3%. Today we will see Chinese 1-y and 5-y Loan prime Rates, both expected to remain at 3% and 3.5% respectively. Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes will be released at 11:30am today, which may give insight into the RBA’s view of the cutting cycle and if there are any rate cuts that are on the board for next year.
 

USD

The Aussie Dollar is remarkably flat since Friday’s open, keeping in a tight range, opening this morning at a rate of 0.6616. Wallstreet rallied into the close, with the DOW JONES up 0.4%, S&P 500 up 0.9% and the NASDAQ up 1.3%. The University of Michigan Sentiment Survey for December was revised down to 52.9, lower than forecasts of 53.5 with both Current Conditions and Expectations revised lower. Inflation forecasts were mixed with 1 year inflation revised up 0.1% to 4.2% though 5-10 year inflation was steady at 3.2%. President Trump spoke, giving props to his management of the economy, not affecting markets. Looking forward there is no news set to be released until Wednesday, with the whole week up until Christmas being quiet.
 

EUR

The AUDEUR saw minimal movement, with the pair opening this morning flat at a rate of 0.5645. European Equities came in soft, with the DAX up 0.4% and the CAC flat. German PPI m/m came out on Friday, reading 0%, with expectations to remain at 0.1%. Looking forward it is a bank holiday for most of this week for Europe as a whole, with the next important data piece being released next year.
 

GBP

The AUDGBP has kept very stable, with the pair opening this morning flat at a rate of 0.4942. British equities finished up in the green, with the FTSE closing up 0.6%. Retail Sales m/m was released on Friday, reading -0.1%, expected to be 0.3% from -0.9%. This is showing a struggling and lackluster economic activity in the UK, proving last week’s rate cut was much needed. Tonight will see the Final GDP q/q to be released, expected to remain at 0.1%.
 

NZD

The AUDNZD sees some solid gains, regaining the 1.15 handle earlier today, opening this morning at a rate of 1.1503. ANZ Business Confidence increased on Friday, reading 73.6 from 67.1. Credit Card Spending y/y also increased from 1.6% to 4.7%. There is no further data this year.