Market Update – 24th August 2018 – Leadership Spill At Noon Today May Provide A Relief Rally For AUD

Peter Dutton, Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop. One of these individuals could be the next Prime Minister of Australia at around 12.30pm this afternoon. Alternatively, stalwart Malcolm Turnbull may survive the challenge and remain as PM, which would mean a National election could be called reasonably soon. The Aussie Dollar certainly didn’t take the leadership turmoil in it’s stride nor the continuing impasse between Trump/China on trade, with the AUD pummelled to the tune of about 1% vs. the majors while our stock market also closed in the red.

A better day could be on the cards today should we see some stability and finality regarding the leadership of the Liberal Party, however as with all things related to politics maybe don’t hold your breath. The ASX is expected to open higher this morning despite European and U.S equities finishing lower. Weaker metals prices also aren’t aiding the Aussie Dollar – with Copper leading metals prices broadly lower.

U.S Core Durable Goods orders released tonight along with a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. There has been some contention recently about the rate and speed of any further interest rate hikes in the U.S, so this will certainly be watched closely for any indication on the Feds next move. AUD/USD will perform well if we see the fed ratchet back the pace of interest rate hikes.

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.7211

AUD/GBP – 0.5637

AUD/EUR – 0.6249

AUD/NZD – 1.0901

AUD/JPY – 80.39

USD/BTC – $6,509

OTHER MARKETS: 

All Ords (XAO) – 6,360

Gold – A$1,635/oz

Silver –  A$20.02/oz

WTI – US$67.82/barrel

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

USD – Core Durable Goods Orders m/m at 10.30pm

USD – Fed Chair Powell Speaks at midnight