Flat U.S retail sales figures which came in at just 0.4% have added further doubt to any hike in interest rates from the U.S Federal Reserve early tomorrow morning. There was already increasing doubt that we’d see another rate hike given recent comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen, and this latest data seems to have confirmed what many pundits were already thinking; that is, the December rate hike was a one-off and we may be waiting a while for the next one.
Equity markets and commodities also fell overnight as risk aversion again took centre stage. European equities were the worst performers down an average 2% or so, while commodities markets also got hammered.
As mentioned a bit earlier tonight the U.S Fed meet to determine if there is to be any move in interest rates from 0.5% and we’ll also see a bit of data out of the U.K in employment figures.
DATA RELEASES TODAY:
GBP – Employment Data at 6.30pm
USD – FOMC Meeting & Federal Funds Rate at 4.00pm
AUD EXCHANGE RATES:
AUD/USD – 0.7349
AUD/GBP – 0.5208
AUD/EUR – 0.6556
AUD/NZD – 1.0519
AUD/JPY – 77.926
***Above rates are indiciative wholesale rates and intended as a quide only***
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Patrick Downes
Senior Corporate FX Dealer
Compass Markets
Contact Patrick for a quote on 0431 278 632
