Australia in focus

August 21, 2018

Plenty of data set for release today, with Australia publishing some significant information.

The USD weakened overnight, sending paired currencies higher. The EUR/USD opened at $1.14365 and declined in early trading until it fell to lows of $1.13934. From that point however, the pair took off and rallied for the rest of the session. It reached a high of $1.14842 very late in trading and has continued higher this morning, currently trading at $1.14878. The GBP/USD followed a similar trend, although it was flatter in early trading. The pair opened at $1.27351 and traded in a tight range, falling to $1.27280 during the start of mid-session trading. The pound, like the euro, rallied from that point, peaking at $1.27987. It is not far off that this morning, trading at $1.27982.

The Dow put in a solid performance yesterday, after opening at 25,683.65. The US index remained flat before climbing to an eventual high of 25,794.18. It was not able to hold onto those highs as it began to decline slightly to its currently level of 25,746.20. The Dax finally shook off some of the underwhelming sessions of late, closing higher overnight. The German index opened at 12,248.67 before falling to a low of 12,233.90 during the first hour of trade. The Dax rebounded off those lows in fine fashion, rallying over 100 points in the next hour and continued to climb until it reached a high of 12,374.00. It was unable to maintain that rally, retracing and closing at 12,315.40.

The day ahead sees the release of a swathe of data. The most significant piece of information being published today is the Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes from Australia. These minutes are from the last monetary policy meeting held. This gives markets a deeper insight into the decision making of policymakers from the RBA. Other data set for release today include:

Canada – Wholesale Sales

Europe – Swiss Trade Balance

UK – Public Sector Net Borrowing, CBI Industrial Order Expectations

NZ – Credit Card Spending, Retail & Core Retail Sales (early tomorrow morning)

 

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