AUDUSD Day’s range: 0.72894 – 0.73603
AUDUSD set a fresh year to date low, trading just below the 0.7300 handles before recovering well through the European and US session. The AUDUSD touched a high of 0.73603. The AU June preliminary retail sales were below the expectations at -1.8% versus expected number of -0.7%. In addition, investors have raised concern about the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Australia. The market still weigh heavily on the Delta variant with the restrictions are unlikely to be eased next week for NSW.
High beta currencies such as the CAD and NZD were the best performers as their central banks are the least dovish. The U.S. stock market rose on Wednesday as the strong corporate earnings figures capture investors’ attention away from peak economic growth and the spread of the Delta variant. Wall Street’s blue-chip S&P 500 index jumped 0.8% and the gains were led by economically sensitive industries, including industrial and material groups, bank stocks, industrial goods companies and airlines. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.8% while the Russell 2000 index of small-cap companies jumped 1.8%.
What to Know
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated this month that global growth for 2021 will be approximately 6%, the same forecast as in April but with some countries growing faster than others. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that economic recovery will be held back unless the pace of COVID-19 vaccination picks up and suggested that the goal of ending the pandemic by the end of 2022 will be reached at the current pace.
Data:
- AU June Preliminary Retail Sales : -1.8% v. -0.7% exp.
- AU June MI Leading Index : -0.1% v. -0.1% prev.
- US EIA Crude Oil Inventories : 2.1Mio v. -4.6Mio exp.
Major moves in the market:
Stocks
- S&P 500 futures climbed less than 0.1% as of 8:11 a.m. in Sydney.
- The S&P 500 rose 0.8%
- Nasdaq 100 futures were little changed.
- The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.8%
- Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index futures rose 0.9%
- Hang Seng Index futures gained 0.7%
Currencies
- The Japanese yen was at 110.29 per dollar
- The offshore yuan traded at 6.4638 per dollar
- The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%
- The euro was at $1.1797
Bonds
- The yield on 10-year Treasuries advanced seven basis points to 1.29% Wednesday
Commodities
- West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $70.32 a barrel
- Gold was at $1,803.99 an ounce
Upcoming data:
- AU June Goods Trade Balance : 13.32Bio prev.
- AU NAB Quarterly Business Confidence : 17 prev.
- UK MPC member Broadbent to speak
- EU ECB Monetary Policy Meeting & Statement : 0.00% exp.
- US Weekly Unemployment Claims : 350K exp.
EU July Consumer Confidence : -3 exp.
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