All Eyes on Tonight's US Labour Market Report

AUD

The Aussie dollar opens up against all majors with the exception of the NZD. Asian equities saw a mixed day as the Nikkei recouped some of its weekly losses to gain 1.8% while the Hang Seng came-off 0.3%. The ASX gained 0.5%, real estate and IT stocks the standouts pushing 2.1% and 1.7% higher respectively. To commodities, Gold and Silver gained +0.1% and +0.5%, Iron down -0.3% and Copper down -0.6%. All eyes are on the RBA’s semi-annual Financial Stability Review today, which will give us further detail on the state of household finances and any signs of increased financial stress across the economy. Our next major domestic release will be NAB Business Confidence on Tuesday.

USD

AUDUSD gained ground overnight, re-capturing yesterday’s highs of 0.6370 after a dip in the afternoon session. US Unemployment Claims printed less than expected last night with minimal reaction in FX markets. A quieter session on Wall St. ahead of this evening’s Non-Farm Payrolls report saw all three equity indices close slightly lower on the day. Analysts forecast a headline print of 170k for the Non-Farm Payrolls report, down from 187k in August, as job gains are moderating with better balance between supply and demand. The Unemployment Rate is expected at 3.7% and Average Hourly Earnings m/m are expected to pick up by 0.3%.

EUR

AUDEUR opens slightly higher than yesterday's open, sitting mid-way in-between yesterday’s trading range at 0.6037. To European equities, the DAX closed -0.2% while the CAC remained unchanged. Only low-tier data printed overnight, with more low-tier data released today – the French Trade Balance and Italian Retail Sales m/m.

GBP

AUDGBP opens higher than yesterday morning, also currently within the middle of yesterday's trading range. The Construction PMI missed expectations of 50.0, instead showing contraction at 45.0 with little reaction from markets. The FTSE showed strength, gaining +0.5% overnight. The next piece of meaningful data will be the UK’s GDP m/m next Thursday. 

NZD

AUDNZD was the one major currency pair which opened lower this morning, at 1.0676. With no higher-tier data to be released over the next few days, eyes will be on lower-tier data such as the Food Price Index m/m later next week.