Daily Currency Update

AUD - Australian Dollar

The Australian Dollar opens weaker this morning against its US counterpart as stronger-than-expected US Payrolls lifted the Greenback. The Aussie fell from 0.7131 down to 0.7092 as U.S. employers added a net 196,000 jobs to their payrolls in March, up sharply from a 33,000 net gain in February, according to the Labor Department. The jobless rate in March was 3.8%, unchanged from the month before and wage growth slowed, reinforcing the Fed’s message that interest rates are on hold.

Closer to home, Friday saw the release of The AiG performance construction Index which shifted from 43.8 in February to 45.6 in March the Australian Industry Group revealed. Although it remains well above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction the improvement was largely driven by engineering construction, this sub-index lifted to 50.5 in the month. Input prices and average wages weakened but remained well into expansion territory.

From a technical perspective, the AUD/USD pair is currently trading at 0.7102, we see initial support at 0.7050 followed by 0.7004. The market faces near term resistance at 0.7127 followed by at 0.7207.

Key Movers

Trade deal negotiations between Trump and Xi Jinping seem to be moving in the right direction with Trumps saying a deal may be reached within four-weeks reiterated by the White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow saying they are getting ‘closer and closer’.

Brexit update, talks between the government and Labour are expected to continue this week before Ms May travels to Brussels on Wednesday to seek a further delay to Brexit to 30 June 2019. The Prime Minister insists that cross-party talks were the only way to deliver Brexit after MPs voted down her withdrawal agreement three times and also passed legislation to block a no-deal Brexit. In a video released aimed directly at voters, May said “There are lots of things on which I disagree with the Labour Party on policy issues. But on Brexit I think there are some things we agree on: ending free movement, ensuring we leave with a good deal, protecting jobs, protecting security”. The GBP/USD cross is holding above 1.3 and currently buys 1.3033.

Expected Ranges