* AUD/USD marches on
* US Inflation data and easing of Covid restrictions in China support AUD
* Day of consolidation?
The AUD/USD opened this morning slightly higher than Sydney’s Friday close of 0.6661. Over the weekend, it gradually climbed and just after 8 am this morning, it reached 0.6715 (not seen since 20 September) before running out of steam. Driving the AUD higher was the fallout from the US inflation data released last Thursday (with markets now pricing in a 50-point rate hike when the US Federal Reserve meet mid-Dec) and news out of China regarding their Covid policy. Reports confirmed that the Chinese government have reduced the quarantine period for international travellers (from 14 days to 8 days) and that airlines previously being penalised for bringing Covid cases into the country will not be penalised. As China is Australia’s largest trading partner, this was Aussie positive.
With little local or offshore data, today and the US celebrating Veterans Day is expected to be a day of consolidation. Later in the week, things ramp up with the RBA Minutes from their meeting on 1 November and the all-important local job numbers Thursday.
| Economic Calendar: Mon 14th – Fri 18th November | ||||
| Event | Impact | Consensus | Previous | |
| CNY Foreign Direct Investment (YoY) (Oct) | Med | – | 15.6% | |
| JPY Gross Domestic Product (QoQ) (Q3) | HIGH | 0.3% | 0.9% | |
| AUD RBA Meeting Minutes (from 1 Nov) | HIGH | Report | ||
| CNY Retail Sales (YoY) (Oct) | HIGH | 1% | 2.5% | |
| GBP Unemployment Rate (3M) (Sep) | HIGH | 3.5% | 3.5% | |
| EUR Gross Domestic Product (YoY) (Q3) | HIGH | 2.1% | 2.1% | |
| AUD Wage Price Index (QoQ) (Q3) | Med | 0.9% | 0.7% | |
| GBP Consumer Price Index (YoY) (Oct) | HIGH | 10.3% | 10.1% | |
| USD Retail Sales (MoM) (Oct) | HIGH | 0.9% | 0% | |
| AUD Employment Change (Oct) | HIGH | 15K | 0.9K | |
| AUD Unemployment Rate (Oct) | HIGH | 3.5% | 3.5% | |
| USD Housing Starts (MoM) (Oct) | Med | 1.42M | 1.439M | |