Market Update – 18th May 2020 – AUD Stable Ahead Of Quiet Week

Please note that the commentary below is factual information provided to a group of readers as a web blog, and where an opinion is expressed by the author, it is GENERAL ADVICE only.

Quiet week ahead:

We have a quiet week ahead from a data perspective with basically no tier one economic data released until Friday evening. As such all eyes will be on the WHO and a battle brewing between China and the U.S on 1/allowing private inspectors to investigate the origins of #Covid19 in Wuhan and 2/Taiwan’s admission as an observer (at the moment they are barred from being a part of the WHO) at the next WHO meeting. All of a sudden it seems the U.S/China trade war is back on and this creates some real uncertainty for markets and particularly so for equities and the AUD, which have a had a pretty good run since mid March lows, at the height of the panic.

Where to from here:

While I continue to believe the lows are in for the AUD and equities, it doesn’t mean I don’t think further pullbacks are unlikely in what continues to be pretty uncertain times for markets and the global economy.

U.S and European stocks closed out Friday nights trading sessions slightly ahead, which bodes well for our local market which right now appears to be headed for a positive open at 10.00am.

In other news further restrictions are telegraphed to be lifted across Australia over the next month or so which should support jobs and economic growth. A lifting of travel bans though remains a long long way away.

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.6387

AUD/GBP – 0.5278

AUD/EUR – 0.5901

AUD/NZD – 1.0740

AUD/JPY – 68.495

OTHER MARKETS:

All Ords (XAO) – 5,492

Gold – A$2,721/oz

Silver –  A$26.14/oz

Oil – US$30.34 barrel

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

CAD – Bank Holiday in Canada