The Australian dollar continued to be weak against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Friday, amid risk aversion, following comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.
While Draghi announced an extension of the ECB’s asset purchase program until March 2017, investors seemed disappointed the bank did not go further. Meanwhile, remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen in her testimony before the congressional Joint Economic Committee seemed to indicate the central bank remains on track to raise interest rates later this month.
Investors will now shift focus to the U.S. Labor Department’s monthly jobs report that will be released later today, due to its potential impact on the outlook for U.S. interest rates.
In other economic news, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said the total value of retail sales in Australia jumped a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in October, coming in at A$24.655 billion. That beat expectations for an increase of 0.4 percent, which would have been unchanged from both the September and August readings.
Thursday, the Australian dollar weakened against the other major currencies following the release of disappointing trade data for October. The Australian dollar fell 0.45 percent against the U.S. dollar, 0.07 percent against the yen, 2.86 percent against the euro and 0.53 percent against the Canadian dollar.
In the Asian trading, the Australian dollar fell to a 3-day low of 89.68 against the yen, from yesterday’s closing value of 89.99. On the downside, 87.00 is seen as the next support level for the aussie.
Against the U.S. dollar, the euro and the Canadian dollar, the aussie dropped to 0.7315, 1.4928 and 0.9770 from yesterday’s closing quotes of 0.7340, 1.4899 and 0.9801, respectively. If the aussie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 0.71 against the greenback and 1.52 against the euro, and 0.96 against the loonie.
The aussie edged down to 1.0954 against the NZ dollar, from yesterday’s closing value of 1.0969. This may be compared to an early 3-day low of 1.0948. The aussie may test support near the 1.07 region.
Looking ahead, the German factory orders for October is due to be released in the pre-European session at 2:00 am ET.
Swiss CPI data for November is slated for release in the European session.
In the New York session, Canada and U.S. jobs data for November, U.S. trade balance for October, U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data and Canada Ivey PMI for November are set to be announced.
At 12:00 pm ET, European Central Bank Chief Mario Draghi will deliver a speech in New York.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com