Australian dollar opens weaker ahead of RBA Meeting Minutes

AUD - Australian Dollar

The Australian dollar is slightly weaker this morning when valued against the Greenback. The AUD/USD pair bottomed for the day at 0.6853 during US trading hours as the American currency firmed up against most major rivals with the focus on the oil market after the attacks on Saudi oil production facilities on Saturday.

On the data front yesterday we saw the release of Chinese Retail Sales which were up by 7.5% YoY in the month of August, missing the market’s expectations of 7.9%, while Industrial Production in the same month resulted at 4.4%, below the expected 5.2% and the previous 4.8%. Looking ahead today and all eyes will be on the Reserve bank of Australia’s Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes at 11.30am AEST. Followed shortly after with the release of quarterly House Price Index (HPI).

From a technical perspective, the AUD/USD pair is currently trading at 0.6864. We continue to expect support to hold on moves approaching 0.6830 while now any upward push will likely meet resistance around 0.6890.

Key Movers

The week opened with the focus on the oil market after the attacks on Saudi oil production facilities on Saturday. The Greenback rose against a basket of currencies on Monday as U.S. President Donald Trump’s authorisation of the use of an emergency crude stockpile in response to attacks on Saudi Arabian refining facilities cooled a surge in oil prices. Brent crude oil initially shot up 20% soon after the oil futures market opened Monday morning, before settling up only 10% in local afternoon trading. Looking ahead this week and there are four central bank monetary policy announcements on the calendar with the US Federal Reserve's the most important with traders widely expect the Fed will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point this week.

In the UK the Pound Sterling fell below 1.2400 level overnight by renewed demand for the greenback in a risk-averse environment and discouraging Brexit headlines. On the data front yesterday the UK released the September Rightmove House Price Index, which slid 0.2% monthly basis and advanced by a modest 0.2% when compared to a year earlier. There are no macroeconomic events scheduled in the UK this Tuesday. From a technical perspective, the GBP/USD pair is currently trading at 1.2424. We continue to expect support to hold on moves approaching 1.2390 while now any upward push will likely meet resistance around 1.2460.

Expected Ranges

AUD/USD: 0.6800 - 0.6900 ▼

GBP/AUD: 1.8000 - 1.8200 ▼

AUD/NZD: 1.0700 - 1.0900 ▲

AUD/EUR: 0.6150 - 0.6350 ▲

AUD/CAD: 0.9000 - 0.9200 ▼