Global Markets:
- Asian stock markets: Nikkei up 1.40 %, Hang Seng gained 0.15 %, ASX rose 1.20 %
- Commodities: Gold at $1136 (-0.15 %), Silver at $15.62 (-0.15 %), WTI Oil at $46.25 (-0.02 %), Brent Oil at $49.10 (+2.00 %)
- Rates: US 10 year yield at 2.04, UK 10 year yield at 1.79, German 10 year yield at 0.55
News & Data:
- RBA Keeps Its Cash Rate On Hold At 2.00% As Expected
- RBA: A$ Adjusting To Significant Declines In Commodity Prices
- RBA: Economic, Financial Conditions To Inform Policy Stance
- RBA: Monetary Policy Needs To Be Accommodative
- RBA: Sees Inflation Consistent With Target Next 1-2 Years
- RBA: Economy Growing At Rate Below Longer-Term Average
- RBA: Economy Likely To Have Spare Capacity For Some Time
- Australia Trade Balance (Aug): AUD -3095 Mln (exp AUD -2400 Mln prev rev AUD -2792 Mln)
- Australia ANZ Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence Index (W/E 4 Oct): 110.0 (prev 110.6)
- New Zealand NZIER Business Opinion Survey (Q3): -14 (prev 5)
Markets Update:
The Australian Dollar gained after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its cash rate unchanged at 2.00 %. This was widely expected by market participants, but it was enough for a small rally in AUD/USD. The pair reached 0.7120 earlier and technical resistance is now seen at 0.7160 and then 0.7205. This helped to boost the Kiwi Dollar as well, which jumped from 0.6490 to 0.6520. NZD has been steadily rising in the past few days and could test the 0.6560 resistance soon.
Meanwhile, USD/JPY rose overnight as speculations about further easing from the Bank of Japan are increasing. It reached a high of 120.58 overnight and the next key resistance level is noted at 121.20, while intraday support can be expected at 120.10 and 119.80. The Euro and British Pound weakened yesterday, despite the poor NFP number on Friday. EUR/USD fell to 1.1170 after trading as high as 1.1290 in the last European session, while GBP/USD, which has been caught in the same 150 pips range for two weeks now, fell to 1.5140.
Upcoming Events:
- 07:00 BST – German Factory Orders
- 08:15 BST – Swiss CPI
- 13:30 BST – US Trade Balance
- 15:00 BST – Canadian Ivey PMI
- 18:00 BST – ECB President Draghi speaks
- 22:30 BST – FOMC Member Williams speaks