Cowabunga! The Aussie continued its ride up the charts after the RBA surprised the markets by keeping rates steady. AUD/USD strongly broke resistance at the 1.0400 handle, closing 78 pips above it’s opening price at 1.0438.
Traders widely expected RBA head honcho Glenn Stevens to announce a 25-basis point rate cut yesterday. But he didn’t.
According to the bank’s rate statement, growth in China have somehow stabilized, making policymakers confident that improvements in the Asian economy would spillover to Australia. On top of that, inflation has picked up more than central bankers’ estimates.
Will the bullish effect of the RBA’s decision continue to prop up the comdoll in today’s trading? Maybe. After all, we don’t have anything on tap from the Land Down Under. But that’s just me. What do you think?
AUD/USD traded in an almost perfect reverse “V” pattern yesterday as it rallied strongly during the Asian session but sharply fell during the European and U.S. trading sessions. The pair, which began the day at 1.0438, had gone as high as 1.0465 before closing the day at 1.0415.
No data was released from Australia yesterday but earlier today, the country’s employment report was published. It came in with an upside surprise as it showed that 10,700 people were hired in October and that the jobless rate has remained at 5.4%. Analysts had initially expected it to rise to 5.5%.
The only report left today is the RBA’s Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes. It’s going to come out at 12:30 am tonight. It’s a valuable report to watch because it provides insight into the central bank’s view of economic situation, inflation, and outlook on monetary policy.
The Aussie bulls and bears were in a fierce round of tug-o-pips yesterday as risk aversion battled with better-than-expected Australian data. AUD/USD finished the day 3 pips lower than its open price after tipping an intraday high at 1.0444.
As I mentioned yesterday, Australia’s employment data provided the Aussie bulls energy to push the comdoll higher in the early trading sessions.
Unfortunately, risk aversion in the markets cancelled out the bulls’ efforts in the later trading sessions. As a result, AUD/USD capped the day just below its open price.
The only report on deck today is the RBA’s monetary policy meeting minutes at 1:30 am GMT. Since the central bank surprisingly kept its rates unchanged early this week, it will be interesting to see if it gives out hints that it will hold off from more interest rate cuts until next year.
Also keep your eyes peeled for the Chinese data scheduled to come out today! Happy Pip’s Comdoll Trading Kit has the calendar for China’s reports, so make sure you check it out and make your preparations!
Just like other commodity-based currencies, the high-yielding Australian dollar weakened versus the safe haven U.S. dollar last Friday. AUD/USD marked its third straight day of decline, falling to 1.0393 from 1.0412.
Only the text RBA’s statement on the country’s monetary policy was released last Friday. It reiterated the central bank’s decision to keep rates unchanged at 3.25% due to the “generally positive” economic conditions of the world. The statement emphasized that U.S. growth has continued at a moderate pace, China has stabilized, and the euro zone monetary policy has helped financial conditions.
Australia’s forex calendar this week is pretty light as no tier 1 data are scheduled to be published. We probably won’t see any major moves out of the Aussie but do keep your eyes peeled for shifts in market sentiment. Another round of risk aversion could result in a sell-off in the Aussie.
Surf’s up, pipsters! The Aussie broke its losing streak yesterday thanks to positive data from China. AUD/USD even reached an intraday high at 1.0441 before it ended the day 64 pips higher than its open price. Booyah!
Yesterday the Land Down Under printed its home loans numbers, which showed a 0.9% decline in September after gaining by 2.1% in August.
Good thing that the comdoll traders had their eyes on Chinese data! China’s trade surplus rose to a four-year high in October, which helped lift commodity-related currencies like the Aussie.
Today only the NAB business confidence data is scheduled for release. The report came in at -1, its lowest since May 2009. Will this affect the Aussie’s price action today? Watch your charts closely!
In yo face, dollah! The Aussie cruised up the charts in yesterday’s trading despite negative data from Australia. AUD/USD finished the day higher at 1.0438 after opening at 1.0430.
According to NAB, business confidence for October contracted when it printed at -1 from being at 0 in September, reflecting a decline in activity in the manufacturing and service sectors.
The consumer confidence report from Westpac shows diverging results though. It came in at 5.2% for November, more than five times its 1% reading for October. A deeper look at the report shows that consumers are now optimistic about economic conditions after the RBA’s rate cut.
Let’s see if the positive figure will be enough to keep the Aussie afloat in today’s trading. Keep tabs on it!
After putting up small gains on Monday and Tuesday, AUD/USD slipped sharply yesterday, undoing all of its earlier progress. Bummer, dude! Sellers had allowed the pair to rise in the first half of the day, but then they took control of the market in the New York session, forcing the pair to close 56 pips lower at 1.0382.
The comdolls didn’t seem to react too well to the disappointing U.S. retail sales. Rather than gaining ground against the Greenback, they were sold off heavily as the markets weren’t in the mood to take on risky assets.
Unfortunately, recent economic releases failed to lift the Aussie out of its rut. Earlier today, a Melbourne Institute report came out and showed a big decline in inflation expectations. Apparently, our homies down in Australia think prices will only rise by 2.2% over the next year, which is a big drop from last month’s expectations of 2.6%.
Meanwhile, new motor vehicles sales declined by 2.8% last month, which is quite disappointing considering September saw a promising increase of 4.6%.
No more reports on tap today! In the meantime, make sure you monitor risk sentiment!
Wipe out! The Aussie posted its second consecutive loss to the dollar yesterday. AUD/USD finished the day 52 pips below its opening price at 1.0320 on disappointing data from the Australia.
As I said yesterday, the Melbourne Institute Inflation Expectations report for October showed that consumers expect a 2.2% increase in prices in the next month, lower than the 2.6% uptick that the report posted in September. This must have bummed out a few market participants as the figure could give the RBA one more reason to ease.
Our forex calendar is blank for reports from Australia today. However, with talks about the Greek bailout deal already heating up, don’t be surprised to see the Aussie react to updates about the issue. Just remember that the currency usually does well when risk appetite is up but doesn’t do so well when risk aversion is in play. Good luck!
After bouncing off support at 1.0300 last Friday and closing at 1.0334, AUD/USD gapped up over the weekend and opened at 1.0341. What boosted the Aussie and will it be able to keep rallying this week?
There were no economic reports released last Friday, which suggests that profit-taking at the 1.0300 handle could’ve been the reason for the Aussie’s bounce. There are no economic reports due from Australia today as the RBA is getting ready to release the minutes of its latest monetary policy meeting tomorrow. As Forex Gump mentioned, the RBA might be doing some “secret easing” on its own as its foreign currency reserves made a huge leap over the past quarter. The RBA meeting minutes could definitely shed more light on that!
There are no major reports due from Australia for the rest of the week as the MI leading index is the only other release for the week. Don’t forget though that China is set to print its HSBC manufacturing PMI on Thursday and this could have a huge impact on AUD/USD’s price action then. Stay on your toes!
Surf’s up, mates! After gapping higher over the weekend, AUD/USD staged a pretty strong rally during yesterday’s trading as it hit a high of 1.0418. AUD/JPY had its fair share of gains as it closed more than 50 pips up from its 84.14 open price.
Although Australia didn’t release any economic figures yesterday, the Aussie was able to ride the wave of risk appetite and cruise higher than its lower-yielding rivals. As it turns out, the U.S. existing home sales report came in stronger than expected for October, stoking market participants’ appetite for risk.
The only piece of economic data set for release from Australia today is the RBA’s monetary policy meeting minutes. Recall that the central bank made no changes to monetary policy last time even though analysts were hoping to see some form of easing or another. The minutes of their meeting could shed more light on when the policymakers plan to boost stimulus so make sure you take a look at the report due 1:30 am GMT.
No bullish waves to ride this time! The Aussie found itself drowning against the Greenback, as the RBA monetary policy meeting minutes killed demand for the high-yielding currency. After reaching an intraday high of 1.0425, AUD/USD sank to 1.0371, down 38 pips on the day.
Traders weren’t too happy to see that the RBA appeared to be willing to ease monetary policy further. The minutes showed that policymakers think that they may need to give the economy another boost in the near future. In fact, some say we could see a rate cut as soon as next month! That’d be quite the Christmas gift to Aussie bears, eh?
No more reports today. In the meantime, I suggest you check out my USD commentary and monitor risk appetite if you plan on trading AUD/USD. Good luck and happy pipping!
Down for another day! With no major economic data coming out from Australia, the Aussie bulls and bears concentrated on risk sentiment. AUD/USD ended the day 7 pips lower than its open price after spiking in both directions.
Yesterday Australia released its MI leading index, which grew by 0.7% in September after ticking only 0.4% higher in August. Aversion to the comdolls soon kicked in though, since investors are still uncertain over Greece’s immediate future.
No data is scheduled for release from the Land Down Under today, so expect low volume and volatility in the next trading sessions. But keep an eye out for any reports from China as it could affect the Aussie’s price action!
AUD/USD took traders on a topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride, climbing to a high of 1.0402 and dipping to a low of 1.0352, only to end the day 1.0387, just 23 pips above its opening price. Will it give us another wild ride today?
Unfortunately, the economic calendar is blank for Australia, which means y’all shouldn’t hold your breath for an Australian report to stir up AUD/USD. But the good news is that U.S. traders will be returning from yesterday’s bank holiday (Thanksgiving Day), which means there’s a good chance we’ll see a lot of action on dollar pairs.
Historically, the Friday after Thanksgiving has been a day of high volatility, and it’s not unusual to see breakouts. With that in mind, y’all might want to keep an eye on AUD/USD, especially since the range it has been trading in has been getting narrower and narrower over the past few days.
The Aussie bulls hanged ten on Friday, as they rode a strong wave of risk appetite to end the week. AUD/USD finished 71 pips higher at 1.0458, hitting two-week highs. Could this be the start of a bullish run back up to the 1.0600 handle?
We’ve got no top-tier reports headed our way over the next few days, so I suspect the Aussie to move to the groove of risk sentiment.
Watch out later in the week though, when second tier data in the form of construction and private capex figures are released. I’ll be sure to hit y’all up with some updates when my spies from Down Under get back to me! Hang tight, mates!
It’s a standoff, ladies and gents! The Australian dollar refused to give way to the U.S. dollar in yesterday’s trading, causing AUD/USD to close right where it opened at 1.0458. Which way could it go today?
Australia and the U.S. didn’t release any economic data yesterday, which explains why AUD/USD barely budged from its day open price. Australia’s economic schedule is still empty for today, which means that AUD/USD will most likely take its cue from U.S. data. Make sure you drop by my U.S. economic commentary to see what’s in store!
Don’t forget to keep tabs on EU’s Greek debt deal talks and updates on the U.S. Congress’ plans to avoid the looming Fiscal Cliff as these issues could have an impact on risk sentiment. Stay on your toes!
With no hard data lined up, the Aussie traded to the beat of risk sentiment yesterday. Unfortunately, risk aversion was the name of the game and AUD/USD closed with a small loss. After hitting as high as 1.0490, the pair fell and finished at 1.0448, down 10 pips from its opening price.
Earlier today, quarterly construction figures came in with mixed results. While construction growth didn’t hit the 2.4% forecast, it was still higher than the previous quarter’s figure of 0.9%. Overall, construction rose by 1.7%. While it would be nice if we saw a trend develop, historically, construction work has fluctuated from quarter to quarter, so don’t hold your breath that we’ll see this pick up in coming months.
No other biggies lined up, so make sure you keep an eye out on risk sentiment, as this will most likely dictate Aussie price action today!
In yo face, dollah! The Aussie surfed up the charts in yesterday’s trading. AUD/USD bounced off support around its Asian lows around 1.0440, finishing the day 27 pips above its opening price at 1.0476.
It would seem that the comdoll started trading higher following the worse-than-expected housing report from the U.S. Given that and with our forex calendar listing a couple of top tier reports for the dollar today, make sure you’re on your toes when more reports come out of the U.S. later today. Who knows, they may just dictate the Aussie’s price action in today’s trading!
Wipeout! After kicking the dollar’s butt on Wednesday, the Aussie failed to impress in yesterday’s trading. AUD/USD traded lower almost as soon as it opened at 1.0476, ending the day at 1.0434.
Word around the hood is that the private capital expenditure report for Q3 2012 sparked the sell-off in the Aussie. Although it printed better-than-expected at 2.8% versus the 2.1% consensus, the fact that it was lower than Q2 2012’s reading of 3.4% was enough to spark talks of a rate cut from the RBA.
I wonder if the Aussie will be able to pare some of its losses today with our forex calendar blank fore reports from the Land Down Under. I have a feeling market sentiment will dictate the currency’s price action in today’s trading, so make sure you get a feel of the market’s mood before you pull the trigger!
The Aussie was still unable to swim out of the bear lair on Friday. AUD/USD spent most of the day’s trading chillin’ like a villain around Thursday’s lows around 1.0420 before closing the day with an 11-pip loss at 1.0423.
The slight pick-up in risk aversion might have limited any upward move on the comdoll. Will it be able to trade higher today? Err, I’m not sure. But after reading Forex Gump’s most recent blog, I have a feeling that Australia’s retail sales report will affect the Aussie’s price action in today’s trading! So make sure you keep tabs on it when it is released later at 12:30 am GMT!
Consolidation is the name of the game for AUD/USD as the pair moved sideways just below its 1.0437 week open price yesterday. At the end of the day, the pair clocked in a 20-pip loss as it closed at 1.0417. Can the RBA statement give it a boost today?
Weaker than expected Australian retail sales data triggered a selloff for AUD/USD yesterday as the actual figure showed no growth in consumer spending for the month of October. Analysts were expecting to see a 0.4% increase for the month, following September’s 0.5% uptick, but they were disappointed to find out that spending stalled lately.
Is this a bearish omen for today’s RBA rate statement? As Forex Gump mentioned in his RBA rate decision preview, business confidence has been low in the Land Down Under as manufacturers and exporters are concerned about the effect of the U.S. fiscal cliff on Australia’s trade activity. On the other hand, RBA policymakers might still decide to sit on their hands and wait for the impact of their recent easing measures to kick in. Make sure you keep an eye out for the accompanying statement around 3:30 am GMT!