Aussie Employment Report Due Today
AUD
The Aussie dollar opens lower against most majors this morning despite yesterday's intra-day rally resulting from some positive China data. Some positive was evident in the figures, with China's GDP contracting by less than what markets were expecting and Retail Sales figures actually showing a decent increase. The rally was short lived however, with risk sentiment souring in the evening as the situation in the middle east continues to ebb and flow. Asian equities closed in negative with Shanghai Comp down 0.8% and Nikkei down -1.2%. On the other hand, the ASX closed positive by 0.3%. Commodities were also mostly in the red with Gold closing -0.1%, Silver -0.1%, Iron Ore -0.9% and Natural Gas -1.1%, with only Crude Oil closing green at +1.7%. Today's focus will be on Aussie Employment data this morning which is set to be released at 11:30am. Markets are expecting the unemployment rate to remain steady at 3.7%.
USD
The AUDUSD opens lower this morning at 0.6336 off the back of FOMC Member Waller’s hawkish commentary overnight mentioning there are no expectations of any US rate cuts soon. Safe haven flows were also supporting the USD as risk sentiment took a hit, coinciding with US President Biden's visit to Israel. Wall St. traded lower overnight as the conflict in the Middle East continued to intensify. The Nasdaq closed -1.6%, the S&P 500 -1.2%, and the Dow Jones -1.0%. A few pieces of data are due to be released out of the US tonight regarding Unemployment, Manufacturing, Home Sales, and Fed Chair Powell’s speech which is expected to follow the same tracks of Waller and Harker.
EUR
The AUDEUR opens slightly lower this morning at 0.6007, having traded as high as 0.6040 during yesterday's mini-rally. Eurozone equities lost their momentum with the DAX closing at -1.2% and CAC closing at -0.9%. No major news out of the Euro today, with only the Spanish 10-y Bond Auction and Current Account to be released tonight.
GBP
Following the trend, the AUDGBP opens lower this morning at 0.5207 after surrendering all of the gains made during yesterday's session and more. Last night the UK's CPI data came out above expectations at a hefty 6.7% for the year which remains amongst the highest for developed economies. It's evident the Bank of England still has work to do to reduce what is proving very persistent inflation pressures. The FTSE followed the global equities trend and closed at -1.2%. No data at all coming out of the UK tonight.
NZD
The AUDNZD has maintained steady progress following the rally from Tuesday, opening at 1.0816 this morning. Tuesday's softer CPI data continues to undermine NZD strength as markets increase bets that the RBNZ will be the first central bank to start cutting interest rates. No data set to be released today.