Aussie Dollar Slides After Weak Jobs Report
AUD
The Aussie Dollar pushes lower against the majors off the back of a dismal domestic jobs report which has dampened RBA hike bets. Asian equities ended lower yesterday with the Nikkei -4.9%, Shenzhen -1.2%, Hang Seng -1% and the Kospi -8%. Locally, the ASX 200 closed -.1% as materials and technology sectors led losses of -4% and -3.4% respectively. In Australia, the September Employment Change printed -39.3k (Est. 20.0k) and the Unemployment Rate came in at 4.7% (Est. 4.6%), the highest rate recorded post covid. This loosening of the labor market has spoiled rate hike bets, dropping to ~35% from over 60% pre-jobs report. There is no further data out for the rest of the week locally.
USD
AUDUSD dropped overnight in the aftermath of the weak domestic jobs report and hot inflation prints out of the US, dipping through the 0.69 barrier overnight to open this morning at a rate of 0.6920. Wall St. rebounded overnight with the Dow +1%, S&P 500 +0.4% and the Nasdaq +0.1%. U.S. Retail Sales for September rose by 0.8%, down from an upwardly revised +1.3%, but significantly better than expectations of +0.3%. with core measures also either matching or beating expectations. PPI for September was +1.3% MoM and +6.3% YoY, higher than respective expectations of +0.6% and +5.4% with all core measures also higher than forecast. Empire Manufacturing for October rose to 25.5 to beat expectations of 12.0 though the Philly Fed Business Outlook Survey fell to 20.9, short of expectations. Finally and weekly jobless claims data was in line with expectations with initial claims at 199k (200k exp) and continuing claims at 1.710 mio (1.709 mio exp). Looking forward Fed Chairman Warsh is speaking today at 2:30pm, with traders hanging onto any clues that he may drop about forward guidance.
EUR
AUDEUR opens the morning lower, with the pair dropping the 0.62 handle to open at a rate of 0.6170. European equities finished the day higher, with the DAX up +0.3% and the CAC up +0.8%. Yesterday saw Industrial Production m/m dropped to -0.5% from -0.3%, expected at 0.0%. Today will see Final CPI figures to be released for the eurozone, with the Final CPI y/y and Final Core CPI y/y looking to remain at 3.8% and 2.5% respectively.
GBP
AUDGBP opens the day lower at a rate of 0.5214. British equities finished in the green, with the FTSE closing up +1.1%. Yesterday saw their GDP m/m read 0.1%, up from the expected -0.1% from 0.4%, with economists stating that the UK is seeing consecutive growth riding the AI boom. Tonight will see BOE Gov Bailey speak at the moderated discussion at the Institute of International Finance.
NZD
AUDNZD opens the day lower, with the pair dropping to a monthly low overnight, opening this morning at a rate of 1.2314. This morning saw the BusinessNZ Manufacturing Index read higher at 56.5 from 53.3 and FPI m/m soften to 0.0% from 0.3%. There is no further data out for the rest of the week.