Australia: Building approvals fell 15.5% in March - ANZ

Sandeep Kanihama FXStreet Contributor

ANZ analysts note that the Australian residential building approvals fell 15.5% m/m in March, following a 19.1% increase in February.

Key Quotes

“The drop in approvals was driven by private sector units, which declined 30.6% after jumping 64.5% in February. The decline in house approvals slowed in March, at only 3.1% m/m, compared with a drop of 3.5% m/m in February. Dwelling approvals are down 27.3% y/y.”

“Unit approvals are driving a flatter trend in residential approvals. In trend terms, unit approvals have flattened out at around 6,000 per month since November. This is a moderation from the peak of the trend during 2016, but is still higher than long-run historical trends, at around 4,000 per month. Given population growth, we think a higher trend level is sustainable.”

“The value of non-residential approvals fell by 8.7% m/m in seasonally adjusted terms, bringing the annual change in the trend to -12.1% y/y.”

Author

Sandeep Kanihama

FXStreet Contributor

Sandeep Kanihama is an FX Editor and Analyst with FXstreet having principally focus area on Asia and European markets with commodity, currency and equities coverage. He is stationed in the Indian capital city of Delhi.

EUR/USD holds losses below 1.1850 ahead of FOMC Minutes

EUR/USD stays on the back foot below 1.1850 in the European session on Wednesday, pressured by renewed US Dollar demand and reports that ECB President Lagarde will step down before the end of her term. Traders now look forward to the Minutes of the Fed's January monetary policy meeting for fresh signals on future rate cuts.

GBP/USD defends 1.3550 after UK inflation data

GBP/USD is holding above 1.3550 in Wednesday's European morning, little changed following the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) data release. The UK inflation eased as expected in January, reaffirming bets for a March BoE interest rate cut, especially after Tuesday's weak employment report.

Gold retains bullish bias amid Fed rate cut bets, ahead of Fed Minutes

Gold sticks to modest intraday gains through the early European session, reversing a major part of the previous day's heavy losses of more than 2%, to the $4,843-4,842 region or a nearly two-week low. That said, the fundamental backdrop warrants caution for bulls ahead of the FOMC Minutes, which will look for more cues about the US Federal Reserve's rate-cut path.

Pi Network rally defies market pressure ahead of its first anniversary

Pi Network is trading above $0.1900 at press time on Wednesday, extending the weekly gains by nearly 8% so far. The steady recovery is supported by a short-term pause in mainnet migration, which reduces pressure on the PI token supply for Centralized Exchanges. The technical outlook focuses on the $0.1919 resistance as bullish momentum increases.

Mixed UK inflation data no gamechanger for the Bank of England

Food inflation plunged in January, but service sector price pressure is proving stickier. We continue to expect Bank of England rate cuts in March and June. The latest UK inflation read is a mixed bag for the Bank of England, but we doubt it drastically changes the odds of a March rate cut.

Top 3 Price Prediction: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple face downside risk as bears regain control

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple remain under pressure on Wednesday, with the broader trend still sideways. BTC is edging below $68,000, nearing the lower consolidating boundary, while ETH and XRP also declined slightly, approaching their key supports.