The Australian dollar demonstrated the same performance as its New Zealand counterpart — rising a bit today after yesterday’s big slump. Unlike the kiwi though, the Aussie did not have negative domestic economic data to explain the decline. Perhaps, the currency continued to fall after disappointing macroeconomic releases in China on Tuesday. Update: currently, the Aussie has lost its gains.
Released on April 30, China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a decline to 50.1 in April from 50.5 in March instead of increase to 50.7 predicted by analysts. The official non-manufacturing PMI dropped to 54.3 from 54.8, whereas experts had predicted an increase to 55.0. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI logged a decline from 50.8 in March to 50.2 in April, missing the consensus forecast of 51.0.
As for Australia’s macroeconomic data, the Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index climbed to 54.8 in April from 51.0 in March. The Reserve Bank of Australia reported that private sector credit rose 0.3% in March from the previous month, the same as in February and in line with market expectations.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7011 as of 12:44 GMT today after opening at 0.7014 and rising to the daily high of 0.7029. EUR/AUD inched up from 1.5957 to 1.5971 following the earlier decline to the daily low of 1.5939. AUD/JPY was about flat at 78.15 after rising to the session maximum of 78.45 earlier.
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