AUD Treads Water Ahead of Chinese CPI

AUD

The AUD opens flat against the majors this morning following the hangover of a yearly high against the US dollar yesterday (0.6619). Asian equities finished the day mixed, Nikkei -0.4%, Hang Seng +1%, and Shenzhen -0.2%. The ASX 200 fell -0.5% to 8803 as energy and real estate losses weighed. The NAB business confidence survey released yesterday showed that confidence in the economic outlook has dropped down five points to -4 index points in August. The main reason for the drop was an expected rise in unemployment. Not much significant data expected for the rest of the week, as the next major data release for AUS will be the Unemployment Rate next Thursday. From China today, we'll see CPI and PPI.
 

USD

AUD/USD opened this morning flat at 0.6583 after trading from 0.6583 lows over the session to 0.6619 highs, which surpassed the previous yearly high of 0.6602. Another positive session on Wall St. saw the Nasdaq close +0.4%, the Dow Jones +0.3%, and the S&P 500 +0.2%. In terms of data, the US PPI m/m is set to be released later this evening and tomorrow US CPI m/m, CPI y/y and Unemployment claims will be released which could be the nail in the coffin shoring up the case for Federal Reserve rate cuts next Thursday. 
 

EUR

AUD/EUR opened flat at 0.5620 following a strong week in the green. The European Central Bank is set to make the latest interest rate decision tomorrow evening. A hawkish tone from ECB President Lagarde in July quelled any expectations for any cuts following successful US-EU trade agreements. European markets were mixed with DAX at -0.4% and CAC at +0.2%. Following the ECB rate meeting, the next major data out of the Eurozone will be on Friday with the French CPI m/m and Italian Quarterly Unemployment Rate.
 

GBP

AUD/GBP opened flat at 0.4868, trading as high as 0.4876 overnight. The FTSE made +0.2% gains at the close. Looking ahead this week, Friday will be the release of the UK GDP m/m which is expected to be a flat month in terms of growth.
 

NZD

AUD/NZD opened flat at 1.1109. This morning, NZ released the Visitor Arrivals m/m which was an increase of 2.6% following a spell of poor results. Tomorrow, RBNZ Gov Hawkesby is set to speak about the August Monetary Policy Statement at the Financial Services Council’s annual conference, in Auckland. This may provide clues for further RBNZ policy decisions.