Key Notes:
- RBA meeting minutes released
- Germany ZEW economic sentiment 53.3 vs. 55.6
- Eurozone ZEW economic sentiment 64.8 vs. 63.7
Later:
- Canada Wholesale sales
- Canada budget release
With no major events scheduled during yesterday’s US trading session, the markets opened today based off yesterday’s theme with the Australian Dollar continuing to remain under pressure. After the speech by RBA Governor Glenn Stevens, the markets opened today to the RBA meeting minutes, which were broadly translated to a neutral tone from the RBA. The Australian Dollar remained a bit volatile into the European trading session with no clear directional bias set in place. At one point the Aussie grew stronger against other currencies such as the Euro and the British Pound.
The Japanese Yen was trading moderate with no major news events impacting the Yen. The USDJPY was trading within 119.6 through 118 levels, with a test of support to 118.5 still pending.
AUDUSD was weaker against the Greenback and was seen trading near the 0.772 handle after reversing its losses from the lows of 0.769 levels.
The European trading session was also light with the exception of the German ZEW economic sentiment, which fell below estimates, falling to 53.3, from 54.8 previously and below estimates of 55.6. The Eurozone economic sentiment was however lifted to 64.8 from 62.4 previously and managed to come above estimates.
The Euro however was seen trading weaker against the Greenback with the main theme being the Greece debt negotiations as the Eurogroup leaders meet later this week to discuss funding for Greece as the country is cash strapped, rising to doubts about how Greece can meet its financial obligations, which include dues to its lenders as well as domestic social obligations.
EURUSD eased from the highs of 1.08 seen earlier this week and was trading lower near 1.068 at the time of writing. Further declines will see a test to 1.0642 in the short term.
The UK economic news was also quiet today with the British Pound trading mixed. The cable was weaker after breaking the support at 1.495 and could potentially test the next support at 1.483 levels.
The US Dollar Index continued to chug along steadily after it dropped to 97.54 late last week. At the time of writing, the Dollar index was trading near 98.50 and a break higher is needed to keep the bullish momentum alive.
The slowdown in the momentum in the Greenback was seen noticeably with commodities such as Crude Oil, which is stuck trading in a range of 57.2 and 55.25, while Gold futures were seen trading near the 1200 handle, deviating by a few points on either sides.
Today’s US trading session is yet again quiet with the exception of Canada wholesale sales, which is expected to rise 0.2% after falling -3.1% previously. The USDCAD has weakened considerably in the past few trading sessions and a bullish print could see the Loonie notch more gains against the Greenback.
Early tomorrow, the Australia quarterly inflation numbers are due and could offer some early volatility into the AUD crosses as the inflation numbers remain the final piece to the puzzle regarding the RBA’s interest rate decision May.
