Daily Currency Update

AUD - Australian Dollar

Having closed the previous two trading sessions with losses, the Australian Dollar once again opens weaker this morning buying just under 70c against the Greenback, weighing on the local unit overnight was a sharp drop in crude oil prices as well as commodities. Copper and Gold both witnessed a decline which generally is closely correlated to the Aussie. At the time of writing, the AUD/USD is buying 0.6997

A report released yesterday by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said new home sales appeared to have stabilised in the first quarter of 2019 after falling 8.5 per cent in 2018. The 0.1 per cent drop in new home sales suggests that the credit squeeze is easing as the market adjusts to new lending norms. Also the election uncertainty can typically subdue new home sales and approvals as investors and owner occupiers put decisions on hold until after an election. The election result will rectify this uncertainty but the potential for higher taxes on housing means a post-election rebound in sales may not eventuate.

Looking ahead, the Australian Industry Group is set to release figures at 9:30 AEST. It measures about 200 service-based companies which asks respondents to rate the relative level of business conditions including employment, production, new orders, prices, supplier deliveries, and inventories.

Key Movers

The U.S dollar index has edged higher following positive U.S economic data, the Commerce Department said factory goods orders increased 1.9% in March year on year, beating economists' expectations for a 1% rise. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that initial jobless claims remained unchanged at 230,000 missing expectations for a decline of 10,000.

In the UK, the GBP/USD rate fell from 1.3100 to 1.3028 after the BoE left interest rates unchanged. May is still under pressure to pass her deal, however, we don’t see a breakthrough anytime soon and another extension beyond October 31st could be on the cards if May is ousted over the British summer, this postpones a BoE hike and should weigh on GBP furthermore.

Expected Ranges