Market Update – 16th February 2018 – AUD/USD Strings Together 5th Day Of Gains As Equities Rebound

AUD/USD is higher again today stringing together a fifth consecutive day of gains vs the so called Greenback. Unfortunately, the same cant be said for the other majors with the AUD lower against the Pound, Euro, Kiwi and Yen since this time yesterday. U.S producer prices overnight came in bang on expectations while the local Aussie unemployment rate yesterday remained at 5.5% with approximately 16,000 new jobs created.

U.S equities have continued to bounce back following their worst losses in two years with the Dow Jones now back to levels last seen in mid January. The Aussie share market however when you use the ASX200 as a guide is still meandering around October levels in a much more subdued recovery to the losses we saw last week.

Ahead this morning is a speech from RBA Governor Lowe, followed by UK retail sales at 8.30pm and U.S building permits just after midnight today AEST. UK retail sales is the one which poses the greatest risks as such those clients with AUD/GBP requirements may be well served to avoid the risk of further declines in AUD/GBP by either hedging exposures or booking a portion of upcoming GBP payments.

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.7937

AUD/GBP – 0.5631

AUD/EUR – 0.6349

AUD/NZD – 1.0723

AUD/JPY – 84.203

USD/BTC – $9,969

COMMODITIES: 

Gold – A$1704/oz

Silver –  A$21.26/oz

WTI – US$61.24/barrel

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

AUD – RBA Governor Lowe Speaks at 9.30am

GBP – Retail Sales at 8.30pm

USD – Building Permits at 12.30am (tomorrow morning)