The Australian and New Zealand dollars are extremely strong today despite mixed economic data. Australian retail sales were much lower than expected, rising by a mere 0.1 percent last month.
On the other hand New Zealand building permits and money supply were stronger than expected, which makes the rally in the AUD/NZD today somewhat illogical. The only explanation for the strong moves in the AUD and NZD are merger and acquisition rumors. Tonight, we have the Australian trade balance due for release as well as the NBNZ business confidence index, which means that there could be more action in the pairs. Canada has GDP due for release as well. The Canadian dollar is unchanged on the day amidst mixed data. The current account was weaker than expected, but raw material prices were very strong.