The Australian dollar was following moves of the Chinese yuan today, rallying intraday on China’s good manufacturing report, but losing gains later. Australia’s own manufacturing data was pretty good as well.
The Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index jumped from 51.3 in July to 53.1 in August. The index showed that the already decent expansion was gaining strong momentum. Not all sectors were performing well, though, as the report noted:
Demand from defence and mining projects lifted the machinery and equipment sector into expansion, but the metals sector and other heavy industrial manufacturers are still reporting tough trading conditions. The food & beverages sector is still growing but recorded its lowest monthly result since November 2016, with some respondents noting higher prices and lower availability and/or quality of raw agricultural inputs because of the drought.
AUD/USD fell from 0.6723 to 0.6713 as of 16:34 GMT today after rallying to the daily high of 0.6734 earlier. EUR/AUD bounced to trade near the opening level of 1.6336 following the drop to the session minimum of 1.6297.
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