Market Watch APAC – 20th March 2024
The AUDUSD retreated yesterday after the RBA meeting, where as expected, they left the cash rate at 4.35%, but the accompanying statement removed the hawkish bias to neutral, by removing the wording “a further increase in interest rates cannot be ruled out” and replacing with “the Board is not ruling anything in or out”. The AUDUSD fell to 0.6532 on the news and deteriorated a little further during London, before the US picked it up from the lows overnight. AUDJPY buyers have helped the Aussie, as carry trades against most of the G10, were re-instated after the BoJ announced financial conditions will remain accommodative, though raising the policy rate range to 0-0.1% (first hike in 17 years) and removed the yield curve control program, pledging to keep buying long-term government bonds. A firm gold price and improved risk sentiment with equities advancing has also added to the support for the AUDUSD pair. Trader focus now turns to the US-dollar performance, awaiting the FOMC decision and Fed Chair Powell’s accompanying statement. The dollar is broadly stronger but expect a bit of noise around the day’s sessions as traders position for the FOMC. From a technical perspective for the AUDUSD , resistance now sits at 0.6555/60 and support at the 0.6500/10 will be closely monitored.
Wall Street indices all gained for the day, as the markets position ahead of the Fed meeting outcome tomorrow. The DJI was up +0.8%, S&P500 gained +0.5% and the Nasdaq up +0.4%. Australian shares are expected to open slightly firmer today, tracking the rise in commodities, supporting the mining and energy sectors.
Gold prices retreated slightly for the day in response to a firmer US-dollar, as investors await the outcome of the US Fed meeting tomorrow.
Copper prices eased as profit-takers weighed on the market, ahead of the US Fed meeting results tomorrow and a firmer US-dollar. Dalian Iron ore prices added another positive day as growing interest in restocking from China, in part due to more optimistic economic data.
Brent Crude prices returned another positive day, as players asses the damage to Russian refineries following the latest Ukraine attacks.
| AUDUSD
Open today 0.6532 Yesterday’s Range 0.6504 / 0.6564 |
NZDUSD
Open today 0.6052 Yesterday’s Range 0.6034 / 0.6089 |
AUDNZD
Yesterday’s Range 1.0762 / 1.0795 |
| AUDEUR
Yesterday’s Range 0.5995 / 0.6036 |
AUDCNH
Yesterday’s Range 4.6909 / 4.7299 |
AUDGBP
Yesterday’s Range 0.5127 / 0.5157 |
We hope you have found our expertly curated MarketWatch analysis useful in navigating the ever-changing FX landscape. To enhance our services and make sure you receive the most relevant and timely insights we have recently made some exciting updates to our newsletter.
To continue receiving our curated MarketWatch insights, we kindly request you resubscribe to our mailing list here: https://bit.ly/46YKOdo
