AUD, NZD Fall As US Dollar Trades Mixed

Today’s Economic events

Japan Monetary Base y/y 28.50% vs. 28.70%

Australia MI inflation gauge m/m 0.0% vs. -0.20% previously

Australia building approvals m/m 3.10% vs. 2.10%

Australia retail sales m/m 0.0% vs. 0.40%

ANZ Job Advertisements m/m 0.20% vs. -1.20% previously

Eurozone Sentix investor confidence 5.7 vs. 6.9

Eurozone unemployment rate 10.30% vs. 10.30%

UK construction PMI 54.2 vs. 54.3

Eurozone PPI m/m -0.70% vs. -0.50%

Coming Up

BoC Gov. Poloz Speech

The US factory orders

The US labor market conditions index

Following Friday’s sell-off in the US dollar which saw the commodity-linked currencies close on a high, the Asian session opened today on a rather subdued note with the US dollar attempting to regain some of the lost ground from Friday. Economic data saw the early Asian trading getting off to a busy start. Australia’s MI inflation gauge was flat, at 0.0% following the previous reading of -0.20%. Building approvals were higher, rising 3.10% beating forecasts of 2.10% in February. January’s numbers were also revised higher from -7.50% to -6.60%. AUDUSD slipped on the data as the Aussie trimmed its gains after trading near a 9-month high last week. Currently, the Aussie is down 0.68% for the day ahead of tomorrow’s crucial RBA monetary policy meeting.

The NZDUSD also opened weaker today, down 0.63% at the time of writing after the currency hit a 9-month high previously.

The Japanese Yen was, however, stronger across the board. USDJPY is down 0.07% at the time of writing after the Greenback continued to post steady losses since Friday’s session. USDJPY tested the support at 111.38 multiple times before managing to push higher.

Asian equity markets were mixed today with the Nikkei225 falling 0.25% while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.17% for the day.

In Europe economic data included the Eurozone Sentix investor confidence which was weaker, rising 5.7 against forecasts of 6.9, but modestly higher at 5.5 from a month ago. Eurozone’s unemployment rate fell back to 10.30% in February after the previous month’s unemployment rate was revised higher from 10.30% to 10.40%. Producers Price Index data released was weaker as well down 0.70% in February below estimates but moderated from January’s revised print of 1.10%. EURUSD declined since the start of trading today and is currently down 0.06% trading at $1.1385.