Aussie succumbs to third consecutive week of declines

AUD - Australian Dollar

The Australian Dollar opens this morning down a third consecutive week despite the global risk on sentiment. Opening this morning at 0.6870, the Aussie did see some encouraging signs from China that kept the Aussie within touching distance of 0.69.

Friday started on a downward trajectory early with the United States releasing a number of better than expected results in the retail space. The positive news in the US coincided with a sharp decline in the Aussie which saw it sold off back below 0.69. As the day progressed however, the Aussie did recover marginally to again claim the 0.69 price level after China posted some positive results of their own. Chinese GDP came in at analysts forecasts but Fixed Asset Investment and Industrial Production both showed positive increases above expectations. From there, the Aussie diverged from the Chinese Yuan, slowly being whittled away to close the week at 0.6873.

Moving into Monday, there is very little on the economic calendar to drive direction and China celebrates the Spring Festival. Momentum will be driven by risk-on sentiment globally.

Key Movers

The Great British Pound tops the key-movers list this morning after heavy declines during the week. The Pound continued its downward trajectory as news of the Bank of England’s dovish tone hit the media. The Bank of England did say that they would only cut interest rates should the data be unsupportive, with the weeks news last week being decidedly unsupportive. The release of retail sales figures on Friday only added fuel to the fire with a disappointing decline of 0.6%. Opening this morning at 1.3004, the Pound now turns to crucial jobs and PMI data for direction.

Across the pond, the United States Dollar surged 0.33% on the US Dollar Index to open this morning at 97.64 after the retail sales report came back 0.2% higher than expected. Adding to the strengthening Greenback was the US-China phase one deal reported earlier in the week. Moving into Monday, the Greenback now enjoys a day off with Martin Luther King Day.

Expected Ranges

AUD/CAD: 0.8952 - 0.9032 ▼

AUD/EUR: 0.6164 - 0.6232 ▲

GBP/AUD: 1.8877 - 1.8962 ▲

AUD/NZD: 1.0356 - 1.0437 ▼

AUD/USD: 0.6835 - 0.6910 ▼