Daily Economic Commentary: Australia

Like its fellow commodity-based currencies, the Aussie fell victim to risk aversion yesterday and took a major hit. AUD/USD ended the U.S. trading session with a huge 272-pip loss, marking its fourth consecutive daily loss.

Australia has no red flags on its economic calendar today, but we will be seeing some very important reports from the U.S. Of course, I’m talking about the U.S. non-farm payrolls at 12:30 pm GMT. The market is expecting the NFP to show that 89,000 net jobs were added but also expects the unemployment rate to remain at 9.2%.

With the market’s high level of risk aversion, I suspect weaker-than-expected figures will end up hurting the Aussie. Hmm, let’s see what actually happens later!

In every business you need to be up to date in a daily economic data, with this you will be able to maintain or increase the profits of your business.

Sorry bros, but not even a broad Greenback weakness can stop the steam of the Aussie bears! Unlike its comdoll buddies, the Aussie lost ground against the Greenback on continued risk aversion in markets. AUD/USD registered a 13-pip drop to 1.0467 after hitting a low at 1.0375. Yikes!

With the RBA releasing dovish statements left and right, who would blame the Aussie bears for attacking? In its monetary policy meeting minutes released last Friday, the RBA expressed its expectations of high inflationary pressures, but it also lowered its 2011 growth forecasts from 3.25% to 2.00%. Apparently, the RBA is concerned with a possible slowdown in global economic growth, as well as weak consumer spending in Australia and delays in coal production.

Will the Aussie gain back some of its shine this week? The worse-than-expected ANZ job report early today definitely won’t help! A few coffee cups ago the report clocked in a 0.7% decline in job ads in July, which is worse than a 3.8% increase in June.

No other reports are scheduled for release in the Land Down Under today, but make sure you keep close tabs on the next reports due from Australia this week. Other reports include the home loans and NAB consumer confidence data tomorrow at 1:30 am GMT, the Westpac consumer confidence data on Wednesday at 12:30 am GMT, and the MI inflation expectations and employment figures on Thursday at 1:30 am GMT.

Stay sharp for these economic events, brothas!

Uh-oh! It looks like Aussie bears are determined to push the Aussie back down to p-p-parity! The Aussie ended yesterday’s trading at its 19-week low against the dollar at 1.0225 with a 212-pip loss.

With all the negative vibes surrounding the U.S. credit rating downgrade and talks of a debt contagion in Europe, I have to say it wasn’t that big of a surprise to see the Aussie head down south in the charts.

It also didn’t help that the ANZ Job Advertisements report for July printed a 0.7% decline after showing a 3.8% uptick for June.

And what’s this… As of this writing, AUD/USD is already below the 1.0000 major psychological handle! Perhaps the mixed reports from Australia and inflation reports from China might have just given investors more reasons to dump the com-doll!

It was reported that home loans in Australia were flat in June and disappointed the consensus which was for a 0.7% uptick. On a slightly better note, business confidence for July improved, with the NAB Business Confidence index printing at 2 after coming in at 0 in June.

However, China’s CPI report for July which came in at 6.5% and topped the 6.4% forecast must be making investors nervous about more rate hikes from the PBOC. Remember that it is bearish for the Aussie when the China hikes interest rates because it may curb Chinese demand for Australian goods.

It seems like the Aussie is off to a bad start, huh? Make sure you keep tabs on market sentiment in today’s trading because if risk aversion continues to linger, we may just see AUD/USD continue trading lower!

Thank you FOMC! After dropping to an intraday low of .9928, AUD/USD was able to take advantage of the risk-friendly FOMC statement released yesterday. As a result, it rebounded all the way to its 1.0375 close 151 pips away from the open price.

The Aussie started the day on the wrong foot yesterday when Australia printed a flat home loans figure and only a slight improvement in the NAB business confidence report. Of course, it also didn’t help that risk aversion was a trending topic in markets!

But thanks to the Fed’s decision to keep its interest rates uber low until mid-2013, traders flocked to the high-yielding comdolls like the Aussie to take advantage of carry trades.

Do the Aussie bulls have enough energy to push the currency higher for the second day in a row? Early today we saw the Westpac consumer sentiment report print a 3.5% decline in July. The data might not be as bad as the 8.3% downtick in June, but it might still be enough to spook a few traders.

Stay sharp on your trades!

After pulling up and gasping for air the other day, the Aussie made another sharp dive against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen yesterday. AUD/USD closed almost 200 pips below its 1.0374 open price while AUD/JPY sank below the 80.00 handle and ended at 78.32.

Consumer confidence is still down in Australia as shown by the Westpac consumer sentiment index which printed a 3.5% decline for August. Although this is better than the previously seen 8.3% drop in consumer confidence for July, a negative reading still implies that Australians are pessimistic about future economic conditions and are less willing to spend. That doesn’t sound too good, does it?

Not even the better than expected Chinese trade balance was enough to keep the Aussie afloat yesterday. The figure showed a 31.5 billion CNY surplus, higher than the predicted 27.3 billion CNY surplus.

Today, Australia is set to release its jobs data at 1:30 am GMT. Net hiring is expected to be up by 10.2K in July, less than half the 23.4K increase seen last June. Weaker than expected figures could push the Aussie even lower while a stronger than expected reading could trigger a bounce. Stay on your toes!

Bad Australian jobs data? So what?!? Thanks to risk aversion subsiding, the Aussie was able to finally edge higher and recuperate some of its losses versus the safe havens yesterday. AUD/USD closed the U.S. trading session at 140 pips higher while AUD/JPY rose 110 pips.

The jobs report released yesterday showed that 1,000 jobs (net) were lost in July. It also showed that the unemployment rate rose for the first time since October to 5.1% from 4.9%. Some analysts are saying that the disappointing results reflected the deterioration of business and consumer sentiment surveys. If bad data keeps coming in, the Reserve Bank of Australia could end up cutting interest rates by 25 basis points in both September and November.

No important economic report will come out of Australia today though I don’t think that means that the Aussie’s price action will be muted today. In fact, with the U.S. retail sales report due, we could see the opposite! Watch out for the result the report at 12:30 pm GMT today, as it will probably have a strong impact on the Aussie’s value.

Up, up, here we go! As risk appetite picked up in Friday’s trading, Aussie bulls hustled some muscle to end Friday’s trading with a gain! AUD/USD closed 20 pips above its opening price at 1.0353.

Now I know some of y’all are tingling with excitement to buy up the Aussie. But just a word of caution, don’t get too excited yet!

You should know that a few market junkies think that the Aussie is not yet out of the woods. If concerns about Europe’s sovereign crisis surface and risk aversion rears its ugly head back into the markets, we may just see the Aussie get sold off along with other high-yielding currencies.

On top of that, more evidence of weakness in the Australian economy could spark talks about rate cuts from the RBA.

Fish for hints on how true the rumors are when the bank releases the minutes of its most recent meeting tomorrow early morning at 1:30 am GMT. If it confirms investor fears, we may just see AUD/USD slide to parity again.

The Australian dollar put the “TIGHT!” in “risk appetite!” The comdoll rose 145 pips against the U.S. dollar while gaining 105 pips versus the yen. Can it chalk up similar results today?

Well, if the recently released monetary policy meeting minutes had its way, NO! The report revealed that the Reserve Bank of Australia is set to keep interest rates on hold for the meantime. It also revealed that the boys of the central bank believe that while the recent instability in financial markets help temper inflationary risks, they also present a big risk to global growth.

Right now, domestic demand is one of the government’s biggest concerns, and word on the street is that we could see a series of interest rate cuts in the near future.

Now whether this news is enough to cause the Aussie to decline is yet to be seen, but it seems as though risk appetite is helping it keep its head above water in the meantime. It’s a tough call, kids. Be sure to weigh fundamentals against risk sentiment before you act!

Hang in there, boys! The Aussie ended its winning streak against the Greenback yesterday when risk appetite took a backseat in the markets. AUD/USD dropped to an intraday low of 1.0406 before steadying to only a 29-pip loss at 1.0476.

As I mentioned yesterday, the dovish RBA meeting minutes certainly didn’t help the comdoll’s cause. What’s more, the bearish news from the euro region released later in the day helped confirm the RBA’s concerns on threats of debt contagion.

As it turned out, the meeting of Germany’s Merkel and France’s Sarkozy was just a little bit more interesting than watching a documentary on rubber bands. Market geeks are saying that it lacked concrete action and impact.

Well, you can’t please everybody, eh? Reports released a few pushup reps ago reveals that the MI leading index rose by 0.1% in June after slipping by 0.1% in May. Meanwhile, the quarterly wage price index clocked in a 0.9% increase just as analysts had expected.

Will the Aussie continue to weaken against its counterparts today? Stick around!

There goes resistance at 1.0500! AUD/USD rallied hard yesterday as the Aussie dominated the Greenback and took the pair up 79 pips to close at 1.0555. Will it post back-to-back wins?

As I said yesterday, the MI leading index and wage price index weren’t big market movers as they basically came in as expected. What really pushed AUD/USD to new heights was general Greenback weakness, which was seen across the board.

No point in waiting for Australian reports today since they won’t be publishing any. In the meantime, check out what the U.S. has to offer if you plan on trading AUD/USD. Peace!

Risk aversion is the name of the game baby! With stock markets slumping in Europe and in the U.S., higher yielding currencies like the Aussie went down under in yesterday’s trading. AUD/USD dropped 160 pips to finish at 1.0395. Could the bears be gearing up for a run back to parity?

Nothing on deck today, but make sure you keep an eye out for equity markets in London and in New York. It is possible that we’ll see a bounce back up today, similar to what we saw last week, but either way, stay flexible. If you don’t know what’s going on, there’s no shame in sitting on the side lines and calling it an early weekend!

Despite the lack of economic data from Australia, the Aussie was able to hold its ground against the U.S. dollar on Friday. AUD/USD opened at 1.0394, reached a low of 1.0315, but pulled up for a strong finish at 1.0404. Meanwhile, AUD/JPY closed right at its open price of 79.58. Read on to find out where the Aussie could be headed today.

Australia won’t be releasing any economic data today, which means that Aussie pairs could rely on risk sentiment for the entire day. That also means that you have plenty of time to prepare for the release of China’s manufacturing PMI at 2:30 am GMT tomorrow. Recall that the reading dipped below the 50.0 mark in July but a rebound for this month could be positive for Australia, which is one of China’s largest trade partners. RBA Deputy Governor Battelino is also scheduled to testify tomorrow so y’all better keep your eyes and ears peeled for any comments on future monetary policy.

On Wednesday, Australia will report its construction work done for the second quarter and also release its leading index. As we discussed in the fundamental analysis part of the School of Pipsology, strong figures could be positive for the currency. Good luck trading!

With risk appetite picking up, the Aussie found itself surfing upstream until giving back some of its gains late in the New York session. AUD/USD eventually closed 20 pips higher, finishing at 1.0414.

We may finally see AUD/USD break out in one direction today when RBA Deputy Governor Ric Battelino speaks at 4:00 am GMT. Battelino will be speaking at an economic forum, and may just drop some hints as to what stance the RBA is leaning in terms of interest rates.

Aside from that, keep an eye out for shifts in risk sentiment, as this will most likely dictate Aussie trading. If risk appetite continues to pick up, we could see the Aussie head off for new highs.

Aussie bulls showed the bears how to hustle some muscle in yesterday’s trading. AUD/USD finally closed above the 1.0500 psychological handle when it ended the day 105 pips higher at 1.0520.

Our forex calendar didn’t have anything on tap from Australia which leads me to think that market sentiment might have fueled the Aussie’s move. As I mentioned in my U.S. Dollar commentary, it seems like the market is bracing to hear further stimulus from the Fed this coming weekend, causing the dollar to weaken.

I wonder if there’s enough anti-dollar vibes for the Aussie to score another win despite the negative leading index report we saw earlier. The CB leading index for June printed a 0.8% decline following the 0.1% contraction we saw in May.

Be on your toes! Keep in mind that the currency usually rallies when risk appetite picks up!

Another one bites the dust! The Aussie joined other high-yielding currencies and dropped against the U.S. dollar as weak data weighed it down. AUD/USD virtually never rose above its opening price and finished the day 45 pips lower at 1.0475.

From the very get-go, we knew it wouldn’t be a good day for the Aussie… not with the poor showing in the CB leading index. The index dropped its reading from a decline of 0.1% to 0.8%, it’s fifth decline in six months! Gains were seen in employment and household income, but this was countered by losses in industrial production and retail trade.

After that, construction data added to the bearishness as it posted quarterly growth in construction work done below the expected 1.1% rise. Q2 2011 only managed to record an increase of 0.7% as the value of work done on buildings, residential structures, and non-residential structures all fell quarter-on-quarter. Ouch!

The only major event on the Australian economic calendar today is RBA Governor Glenn Stevens’ speech at 11:30 pm GMT. It’s always interesting to hear what the RBA top dog has to say, so be sure to tune in! He might give clues as to what the central bank plans to do… and maybe even go so far as hint about rate cuts!

Nope, not today either! The Aussie bulls had to step back for the second day in a row yesterday when risk aversion continued to take a hold in markets. AUD/USD only rose to an intraday high of 1.0514 before it fell and capped the day 41 pips lower at 1.0434.

While it was a quiet day in the Land Down Under yesterday, but apprehension on global economic growth, and the Jackson Hole symposium kept traders from buying up high-yielding currencies like the comdolls.

Will the Aussie have any luck today? The economic canvas in Australia is blank again for today, but make sure you keep a close eye on Ben Bernanke’s speech in the Jackson Hole meeting at 2:00 pm GMT. The rest of the world will be watching and so should you!

With the dollar tanking late on Friday, the Aussie jumped up like a baby Joey kangaroo! AUD/USD rose a whopping 142 pips to close just below the 1.0600 handle at 1.0579.

Just like other higher yielding currencies, the Australian dollar made a strong run to end last week. With gold bouncing back and with the U.S. dollar susceptible to more losses ahead of the NFP report on Friday, we could see the Aussie head off to new highs.

Of course, a lot will depend on whether or not all the red flags coming out from Australia can make a good impression on the market.

Tomorrow, we’ve got building approvals coming in at 1:30 am GMT. Analysts are predicting that approvals rose by 2.1% in July, which would be a nice improvement over the 3.5% decline we saw in June. This is a leading indicator of housing activity, and signals that construction should pick up in the coming months.

On Thursday, we’ve got private capex and retail sales figures on deck. The two reports are expected to show a pickup in spending by corporations and consumers alike.

Good luck mates! Hope you grab some pips!

I said a bang, bang, bangity bang! The Aussie cruised to its highest level in a month, as risk appetite gave the comdoll a nice boost up the charts! AUD/USD closed 80 pips higher at to finish at 1.0654.

The Aussie benefitted from a nice rally in the equity markets, as risk appetite seems to have picked up since late last Friday. As long as risk sentiment stays up, we should see the Aussie stay afloat.

Earlier today, building approvals data hit the airwaves. While the report was a slight disappointment (1.0% growth versus a 2.1% expectation), you should take note that this marks the first time in four months that we got positive building approvals growth. This is indicative of an improving housing market, and hopefully, this continues in the coming months.

No other data on deck for today, but do keep an eye out on the equity markets. If you start seeing green on your tickers, the Aussie may not be far behind!

Thanks to renewed speculation of QE3 due to the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes, the Aussie was able to edge higher versus the Greenback yesterday. AUD/USD started off the Asian trading session at 1.0654, but by the end of the day, it was sitting 54 pips higher at 1.0708.

The building approvals report didn’t share AUD/USD’s happy ending though. The survey showed that the growth of approvals fell to only 1.0% from 2.1% the previous month.

Today, Australia’s economic calendar presents the retail sales report and private capital expenditures at 1:30 am GMT. Both reports tend to have a strong impact on the Aussie’s price action, so it will pay to keep an eye out for the results. The retail sales report is expected to show a 0.3% rise while the private capital expenditures is predicted to print a 4.1% increase.