AUDUSD Movement
For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, AUD strengthened 0.25% against the USD to close at 0.8979, on positive reaction to Australia’s upbeat fourth-quarter GDP data.
LME Copper prices rose 1.0% or $67.5/MT to $7102.5/MT. Aluminium prices jumped 3.2% or $54.5/MT to $1741.5/MT.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 0.9012, with the AUD trading 0.37% higher from yesterday’s close, after data showed that, on a seasonally adjusted basis, retail sales in Australia rose more-than-expected 1.2%, compared to a 0.7% increase in the preceding month and after Australia’s trade surplus widened to A$1,433 million in January, from a surplus of A$591 million in the previous month. Adding to the positive sentiment were comments from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) member, John Edwards, who stated that the latest batch of upbeat GDP figures proves that the economy has turned a corner, shrugging off threats of a serious downturn. Furthermore, he opined that the upbeat GDP data depicts that Australia is successfully shifting from mining driven economy to other sources of demand, such as home construction.
The pair is expected to find support at 0.8965, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 0.8918. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 0.9047, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 0.9082.
Traders would keep an eye Australia’s AiG performance of construction index and the RBA Governor, Glenn Stevens’ speech, due later today.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
