Australian Dollar
Expected Range 0.6800 – 0.7000
A quiet Monday after an eventful Friday sees the AUD up 5 points against the USD from Fridays close. The AUD briefly went through 0.69 before finding resistance and returning close to the days open and finished at 0.6860. With US markets closed for Martin Luther King Day trade remained calm with the main focus now moving toward the Chinese GDP data which will be released about 1pm AEDST. Following on from the Chinese stock mart issues and the devaluation of the Chinese Yuan last week the Australian Dollar will be looking for a positive number to help give it some support.
New Zealand Dollar
Expected Range 0.6390 – 0.6550
The NZD opens today at 0.6442 after a fairly subdued day. With the US offline with a bank holiday (Martin Luther King Day) and oil prices remaining steady the NZD spent most of the day trading between 0.6430 and 0.6480. With no data out locally and the market still uncertain how Chinese economy is coping especially following last week’s fall in the stock market and devaluation in the Chinese Yuan the market will turn toward the Chinese data that is out today for direction and then look toward the NZ CPI data q/q which is being release tomorrow morning.
Great British Pound
Expected Range 2.0600 – 2.0950
The GBP/AUD movement was limited on Monday and the market finds itself where it started the day at 2.0760. With no major data released today and oil prices finding some support and the as a result the GBPAUD movement was limited. Coming up today the Australian dollar is expected to have some volatility around the Chinese data being released and then during the UK trade the CPI, PPI and RPI data being released in the UK. The GBP is currently trading at 2.2094 against the NZD and 1.4241 against the USD.
Majors
Expected Range N/A
With the US offline during Monday’s trade limited market moving information being released we have seen the currency markets around the world fairly subdued. The only data of note was the Italian trade balance data which came in slightly better than expected at 4.41 Billion. However as expected the market reaction was limited. In Japan we had the Tertiary Industry Activity m/m and Revised Industrial Production m/m which both came in slightly under expectations but again market reactions were limited. The US had a bank Holiday for Martin Luther King Day.