AUD Mixed Ahead of RBA Minutes

AUD

The Aussie dollar opens mixed against the majors this morning. The ASX slid -0.2% led by Real Estate’s -1.4% and Utilities' -0.9%, whilst Asian equities finished weaker across the board through the Hang Seng falling -1% and the Nikkei -0.6%. There was no data out for the Aussie yesterday. Today we’ll have the RBA’s Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes which will provide in-depth insights into the economic conditions that influenced their decision to hold the cash rate at 4.35%.
 

USD

AUDUSD opens flat at 0.6705 today, holding onto the 67c handle from Thursday’s 2% surge. Wall St was generally firmer across the US session with the S&P and Nasdaq up 0.6% and 0.7% respectively, though the Dow Jones closed flat. There was no US data of note for the US yesterday with the NAHB Housing Market Index for December printing at 37 to match expectations although there was no reaction to the data. The Fed’s Golsbee hit the wires saying that there seemed to be some confusion in the market in the aftermath of the FOMC decision while other articles suggested that the Fed was pushing back against expectations that a March rate cut was the base case. Next up for the US will be tonight’s US Building Permits print expected to decrease to 1.47M, and FOMC Members Barkin and Bostic set to speak overnight.
 

EUR

AUDEUR remained mostly flat during yesterday’s trading sessions to open slightly higher this morning at 0.6138. The DAX and CAC took a loss in the EU session to close down -0.6% and -0.4% respectively. The only news of note yesterday was Germany’s December IFO Business Climate which fell short of expectations and November’s numbers to print at 86.4. Tonight, we’ll have their Final Core CPI y/y and Final CPI y/y both expected to remain flat at 3.6% and 2.4% respectively.
 

GBP

AUDGBP opens higher this morning at 0.5297 following an uneventful trading session yesterday. The FTSE outperformed its neighbouring European markets to close up 0.5%. There was no news of note yesterday. There’s only a handful of low-impact data expected tonight until tomorrow’s CPI y/y print which is expected to decrease to 4.3% from November’s 4.6%. Any diversion from expectation could cause a bit of volatility for the AUDGBP rate.
 

NZD

AUDNZD opens flat at 1.0793, although slightly recovering from yesterday’s dip to 1.0759. This morning's Kiwi Trade Balance printed worse than expected at -1234M, down from expectations of -1200M. Next to watch out for will be RBNZ Governor Orr who is due to testify on the Monetary Policy Statement before the Finance and Expenditure Committee at 6am tomorrow.