Aussie Retail Sales Today

AUD

The AUD saw consistent gains overnight to open higher against major currencies this morning. Asian equities were mostly positive to start the week, with the Nikkei and Hang Seng both up 0.8% and the ASX 200 up 0.3%. Before market open today, China’s CB Leading Index m/m printed -0.3% compared to a previous -0.5%, this generally negative trend (since early 2022) continues to indicate headwinds for economic growth, with more crucial data on Wednesday with the Chinese Manufacturing PMI and Non-Manufacturing PMI release. Aussie Retail Sales m/m will be releasing before lunch today with expectations of a -1.9% slump (after last month's +2.0% print). Tomorrow, we'll see major Aussie CPI data in the late morning.
 

USD

A low start to the week gave room for the Aussie Dollar to experience gains in the overnight markets, seeing the AUDUSD pair testing the same resistance seen last week, opening this morning at 0.6606. Wall St. saw the Nasdaq trading +0.4%, the S&P 500 +0.2% and the Dow Jones flat. No US data in the early stages of the week, although tonight will bring CB Consumer Confidence and JOLTS Job Openings. Markets look to Thursday morning, where we'll see the Fed's interest rate decision (expected to hold at 5.5%) and FOMC Press Conference + Statement. The Federal Reserve is expected to push back against the recent dovish narrative, being a hard sell to financial markets at this time.

EUR

Positive overnight movement for the Aussie Dollar has enabled AUDEUR to work back to a level unseen for two weeks, reaching 0.6106 highs overnight before opening today at 0.6101. This comes after a steep crash mid-January that took us to be at lows we had not seen since late November. European equities were mixed with the DAX -0.1% and CAC +0.1%. Tonight, the Spanish Flash CPI y/y prints, followed tomorrow by the German Prelim CPI m/m.
 

GBP

AUDGBP opens this morning up at 0.5198, furthering the positive trend that began on Friday afternoon. The FTSE traded flat. With no data printing on Monday, today sees a soft data release, with major data such as the BOE Monetary Policy Report, Monetary Policy Summary and Bank Rate printing on Thursday.
 

NZD

AUDNZD opens relatively flat at 1.0778. Monday saw the Trade Balance print positively at -323M compared to the forecasted -975M. Tomorrow, we'll see the ANZ Business Confidence release.