AUD Recovers on Hopes of an End to Iran War

AUD

The Australian Dollar surged this morning as "peace premium" hopes took hold, with the Aussie catching a bid after President Trump teased a "mutual" end to the Iranian conflict. Commodities were all very green into the close, with the notable exception of Oil, which slid back to US$100/barrel overnight after the G7 said it’s ready to release reserves. Asian equites finished lower with the Nikkei -5.2%, Hang Seng -1.4% and the Shenzhen -1%. Locally the ASX 200 closed -2.8% as materials and technology sectors led losses at -4.8%. yesterday saw Chinese Inflation come in higher, with their CPI y/y reading +1.3%, expected at +0.9% up from 0.2% and PPI y/y read -0.9%, expected at -1.1% from -1.4%. Later this morning will see Westpac Consumer Sentiment and NAB Business Confidence being released, previously at -2.6% and 3 respectively. 

USD

AUDUSD recovers overnight opening at 0.7078 off the back of renewed optimism that the end to the Iranian war is closer than expected, following Trump's comments earlier this morning. On Wall St, equity markets pared earlier losses with the Nasdaq trading +1.3%, the S&P 500 +.9%, and the Dow Jones +.6%, entering the final hour of trade. Earlier this morning, President Trump was speaking at the Republican members Issues Conference in Miami and noted that the war against Iran "is very complete". If he continues to push a narrative that he wants to end the war it could continue to push the AUD even higher. Tonight will have ADP Weekly Employment Change set to be released, previously 12.8k, with all eyes on the Core PCE Price index m/m later this week, expected to remain higher at 0.4%.

EUR

AUDEUR also sees a lift in this morning’s open, briefly piercing the 0.6090 barrier to reach a new yearly high, opening this morning at a rate of 0.6081. European equities bled into the close, with the DAX down -0.8% and the CAC down -1%. German Factory Orders m/m came in well under expectations at -11.1%, expected at -4.2% from 6.4%. Tonight will see German Final CPI m/m release, expected to remain at 0.2%.
 

GBP

AUDGBP opens the day higher this morning at a rate of 0.5267. British Equities were soft into the close, with the FTSE down -0.3%. There was no news yesterday to start the week, with today only having the BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y, set to slow to 2% from 2.3%
 

NZD

AUDNZD opens the day flat, with the pair having a slight dip that was retraced overnight, opening this morning at a rate of 1.1927. There was no news out last night and none until Thursday, with their manufacturing Sales q/q, previously 2.7%.