Australian Dollar
Expected Range 0.7750 – 0.7850
The Australian Dollar performed strongly yesterday and hit 10 month highs against the USD of 0.7826. It was a strong day for the AUD after expectations around the Fed’s monetary policy stance were tempered. The AUD has pulled back slightly from the high and currently finds itself opening this morning buying 78.13 US cents. The Reserve Bank minutes from their latest meeting were also released yesterday with no big surprises. The RBA did mention that a high AUD would hurt exports but did not mention a rate cut instead they stated that the current policy was accommodative. With no data out locally look for external factors to drive the dollar including the rebounding commodity prices.
New Zealand Dollar
Expected Range 0.6900 – 0.7100
After starting the week below 0.69 the New Zealand Dollar has been able to push through 70 cents against the USD the first time since the 11th of June last year. It has been a positive start to the week being supported by strong oil prices combined with a weakening USD. Oil prices have been steadily improving over the last few weeks and this week they were given a boost by oil workers in Kuwait going on strike which reduces the supply of oil in the market. The l Dairy Trade index came in ahead of expectations up 3.8% however given the strong week the NZD is having currency movement was limited.
Great British Pound
Expected Range 1.8350 – 1.8500
After a disappointing Monday the GBP has finds itself slightly higher than yesterday’s open to currently buy 1.8416 Australian Dollars. With limited data out of the UK and few surprises in the RBA meeting minutes the GBP/AUD rate experienced minimal movement through the day. The GBP however itself up almost 120 points against the USD to open this morning at 1.4390 off the back of USD weakness. The Average earnings Index will be released this evening but the main data released this week will be the Retail Sales data which is out tomorrow.
Majors
Expected Range N/A
The story of the day was the USD performing poorly across most major currency pairs with weakness that started on Monday not helped by the building permits and housing starts data falling short of expectations. The Euro has been one of the currencies who has performed well against the USD despite having limited data releases. We will have ECB President Draghi speaking tonight with the market looking for any indication about what actions they can take to help support the Eurozone.