November Retail Sales Data Due Today
AUD
The Aussie Dollar opens up mostly flat across the majors this morning whilst still exhibiting decent volatility in between the opens as markets look for the first trading themes to pin bets on in the new year. Asian equities closed in the red with the Shanghai Comp down 1.4%, and the ASX down -0.5%. No data from coming out locally today, however tomorrow we will have the Aussie Retail Sales m/m expected to come in at 1.2% from a previous level of -0.2%. This will capture seasonal influences such as the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales which in recent years have proven to be the busiest months for Aussie retailers.
USD
The AUDUSD opens flat his morning at 0.6719, having traded either side of the 0.67 handle since Monday's open. Wall Street closed in the green with NADAQ up by 2%, the Dow Jones up by 0.4% and the S&P up by 1.1%. Overnight FOMC Member Bostic spoke at the federal reserve bank of Atlanta where he mentioned “rise in unemployment has been far less than what would typically be the case given the reduction in inflation”. He also mentioned that inflation had come down more than he had expected, although restrictive policy settings would need to remain in place. To the data and we had the Consumer Credit m/m release early this morning which came in at 23.8B, much higher than the forecast of 8.9B although failed to move markets. So decent signs for the spending appetite of US consumer early in the year which play into the chances of a US recession later in the year. More Fed speak due tonight from FOMC Member Barr before the US data starts to heat up late in the week.
EUR
The AUDEUR opens flat this morning at 0.6136, while the European Equities open up in the green with the DAX up by 0.7% and the CAC up by 0.4%. Yesterday we had a bit of low impact data from the Eurozone, with the German Factory Orders m/m coming in at 0.3%, the German Trade balance at 20.4B, the Sentix investor confidence at -15.8, and the retail sales m/m at -0.3%. Tonight we have the Unemployment Rate for the Eurozone, forecasted to remain steady at the relatively high level of 6.5%.
GBP
The AUDGBP opens slightly in the red at 0.5269, while the FTSE opens up slightly in the green by 0.1%. No major data for the Pound yesterday, but later today we have the BRC Retail Sales Monitor y/y forecasted at 2.3% which doesn't generally move markets on its own. Ono Thursday BoE Gov Bailey is due to testify along with Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden, on the Financial Stability Report before the Treasury Select Committee in London.
NZD
The AUDNZD opens up this morning with minor losses at 1.0741. No data out for the Kiwi yesterday or today, but tomorrow we’ll have the ANZ Commodity Prices m/m and on Thursday we’ll see the Building Consents m/m.