Australian Dollar Outlook - 27 August 2013
Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened weaker this morning after a volatile night of trading pulled it in different directions overnight.
Australia: The AUD has opened slightly weaker today despite some weak economic data in the US released overnight. The currency had risen to a session high of USD0.9071 after US durable goods orders fell 7.3% in July.
The data put further doubts on the likelihood of the US Federal Reserve ending its economic stimulus program in September and this weakened the USD. It wasn't until the end of the US session that the AUD fell in line with equities after the US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that the US would demand "accountability" over the chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians.
The AUD ended session around USD0.9030, close to where it had started. With the lack of any key data both in Australia and Asia today, we expect the AUD to trade within familiar ranges.
Majors: It was a quiet start to the week, with London out on a bank holiday. As mentioned above, US Durable goods disappointed the market with a decline in July after three months of gains. The weak report had the market questioning once again whether or not the US economy is healthy enough to begin winding down its stimulus measures as early as next month.
This weighed on the USD but we did see it bounce back throughout the day. The next key piece of data for the US will be the
August jobs report, with the market viewing it as the next piece to the puzzle of whether or not the Fed can begin reducing its stimulus program.
Tonight we have German Ifo survey for August which is expected to show some improvement, while in the US we have housing data and consumer confidence.
Economic Calendar
27 AUG CH Industrial Profits YTD Jil
GE IFO Business Climate Aug
US Richmond Fed manufact Index Aug
US Consumer Confidence Index Aug