Market Update – 17th July 2018 – AUD Unchanged, While Commodities & Equities Remain Under Pressure

The Aussie dollar is unchanged overnight and remains more or less anchored around the 0.7400 level vs. the Greenback and just under 0.5600 vs. the Great British Pound. Equities across Europe and the U.S traded flat overnight while commodities again look to have lost ground amid sustained selling and profit taking after a very good run during 2016-2017. Iron ore which is perhaps our most crucial export has continued to trade sideways since March with the current price for the benchmark 62% fines hovering around US$65 a tonne, which is profitable for most industry participants.

Geo-Politics: Trump has worried Western and U.S leaders at home appearing next to Putin last night at a press conference while calling the Mueller probe a ‘witch hunt’. The move from Trump to continually side with Russia instead of traditional allies in the West is strange and is causing concern for markets and trade in general which is dragging on markets.

Ahead today is local Monetary Policy Minutes from the RBA’s last meeting. The minutes are a more in depth look at the thought process of the RBA with respect to the economy and future moves in interest rates and so is watched quite closely by traders and economists alike. As such we could see some increased AUD volatility around 11.30am this morning. Jobs data is released in the U.K tonight which will have an impact on AUD/GBP.

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.7398

AUD/GBP – 0.5583

AUD/EUR – 0.6313

AUD/NZD – 1.0927

AUD/JPY – 83.105

USD/BTC – $6,650

OTHER MARKETS: 

All Ords (XAO) – 6,326

Gold – A$1,672/oz

Silver –  A$21.28/oz

WTI – US$67.16/barrel

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

AUD – Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes at 11.30am

GBP – Average Earnings Index at 6.30pm

USD – Fed Chair Powell Testifies at 12.00am