Australian Dollar:
The Australian Dollar comes in to today relatively unchanged this morning as the market consolidates before the interest rate decision this afternoon. Monday saw building approval m/m come in at 2.2% against expectations of 1.8% but the big focus this week is on the Reserve Bank’s decision at 2:30pm today. With the market is split at the moment as to whether they will cut interest rates today there will be a focus on the decision but also the wording of the statement to see what their outlook is going forward.
We expect a range today of 0.7000 – 0.7250
New Zealand Dollar:
The New Zealand dollar has closed down 40 points on the day after a day fluctuating around 0.6750. With no data out locally the focus it was not expected to be a big day for the NZDUSD cross rate and while we did see the NZD get to 0.6785 against the USD the range for the day was just 60 points. The Reserve bank of Australia’s interest rate decision may see the NZD improve against the AUD if they do decide to cut interest rates. Attention today turns toward the ANZ Commodity Prices which are coming out this morning.
We expect a range today of 0.6650 – 0.6850
Great British Pound:
The Great British Pound had closed down against the Greenback today after an up and down day. They released the Manufacturing PMI data for the month which came in at 55.5 which was ahead of market expectations of 51.3%. This increase is a sign that the UK economy is going well despite global conditions and with the interest rate decision on Thursday in the UK it raises the chances that the Bank of England may look at increasing rates. Attention today will focus on the Construction PMI data out today to see if it can follow in the footsteps of the Manufacturing data.
We expect a range today of 2.1400 – 2.1800
Majors:
The data release from the Eurozone during yesterday’s trade gave an indication that market conditions are starting to improve and with no surprises for the market we saw the EUR trade within a fairly narrow range between 1.1000 and 1.1050 for the day. The PMI data coming out of the US and Japan was almost as expected and their trading ranges were limited. With little data out today and Japan having a bank holiday most of the focus will be on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Interest Rate decision.
Data releases:
AUD: Cash Rate, RBA Rate Statement
NZD: ANZ Commodity Prices m/m
JPY: Bank Holiday
GBP: Construction PMI
EUR: Spanish Unemployment Change
USD: Factory Orders m/m