Market Update – 28th February 2017 – Poor U.S Goods Orders Do Little To Create Volatility

Worse than anticipated US core durable goods orders and pending home sales have done little to weaken the U.S Dollar overnight with the US Dollar Index actually closing the session at the same level as its open – something you rarely see in financial markets but perhaps suggesting volatility is due, we just don’t know when it’ll return to markets. The lack of a move in the US Dollar Index overnight and this month coincides with very little movement in the Aussie and likewise global equities which have rallied at most 3%, but many indices are flat for the month of Feb.

President Trump’s State of the Union Speech will be held around 1pm local time tomorrow and is shaping as a catalyst for volatility with some experts predicting it’ll make or break this recent surge in U.S equities. If he fails to cement promises of infrastructure and so forth we could well see a sharp decline in U.S equities as a result – if he continues with his infrastructure rhetoric then you’d have to assume it’ll be business as usual. All I can say is buckle up.

DATA RELEASES TODAY:

USD – US Prelim GDP at 12.30am

USD – CB Consumer Confidence at 2.00am

AUD EXCHANGE RATES:

AUD/USD – 0.7638

AUD/GBP – 0.6119

AUD/EUR – 0.7205

AUD/NZD – 1.0661

AUD/JPY – 86.451