Aus Consumer Sentiment to Gauge Financial Confidence

AUD

The Aussie Dollar opens lower this morning despite minimal overnight data. Yesterday, we had positive job news from the private sector, with ANZ Job Advertisements m/m coming in at +0.1% against its previous -5.1%, however with little market reaction. Asian equities had a positive day, with Nikkei closing at +0.9%, Shanghai Comp +0.1% whilst our local ASX closed a tad lower. Onto the commodities desk, Natural Gas and Crude Oil both gave up recent gains amid uncertainty in the Middle East, closing in at -0.3% and -7.3% respectively. Gold and Silver were both -0.1% and Iron +0.2%. Today we find out about Aussie consumers' confidence within their household and the broader economy, with the Westpac Consumer Sentiment coming out at 10:30am.
 

USD

AUDUSD opens lower at 0.6659 and Wall St. was closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Tonight, we'll see the release of the Empire State Manufacturing Index, expected to come in at -4.9 after last month's -14.5. In Thursday's early hours we'll see US Retail Sales data. 
 

EUR

AUDEUR opens lower at 0.6081 off the back of better-than-expected Trade Balance data coming out of the Eurozone. The Trade Balance was expected to be flat from last month’s +11.1B, whilst coming in 30% better than expected at +14.8B to indicate a healthy trade surplus. Equities closed in the red with DAX -0.4% and CAC -0.7%. Today, we have German Final CPI m/m coming out at 6pm, expected to remain in-line with its Preliminary release of +0.1%. No more meaningful data today, however, tomorrow night we’ll see the Final CPI numbers y/y coming out of the Eurozone, again expected to be in-line with the Preliminary release.
 

GBP

AUDGBP opens lower at 0.5230 with minor housing inflation data released yesterday, showing an increase in homeowners' asking prices for their homes, with Rightmove HPI m/m coming in at +1.3% against previous -1.9%. Today, we have the UK employment data released at 6pm, expected to add +2.1K Unemployment Claims from previous month, whilst Unemployment Rate expected to stay flat at 4.2%. Overnight we have Governor Bailey testifying before the Lords Economic Affairs Committees, and CPI y/y to release at 6pm tomorrow, expected to lose 0.1% from last month to +3.8%.
 

NZD

AUDNZD opens higher at 1.0743 without any data coming out of NZ overnight. This morning, the NZIER Business Confidence came in better than previous at -2, to last quarter’s -52. No more data coming out today, while tomorrow we may see the GDT Price Index release.