Macroeconomic reports released during the Tuesday’s trading session did not paint a positive picture of Australia’s economy. Yet that did not prevent the Aussie from standing ground, avoiding losses, most likely due to mild risk appetite on the Forex market.
The National Australia Bank business confidence index dropped from +4 in January to +2 in February. The business conditions index retreated from +7 to +4. The report commented on the results:
With a larger survey sample, both confidence and conditions settled at a lower level in February following the volatility over the New Year period. The decline in conditions was relatively broad-based in the month and continues a relatively sharp decline over the previous 6 months. The decline in confidence was more modest but the series has now been below average for some time.
Released separately by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, new home loans showed a drop by 2.4% in January, seasonally adjusted. Analysts had predicted a smaller decrease by 2.0%.
AUD/USD rallied from the opening level of 0.7068 to 0.7085 as of 14:34 GMT today, bouncing from the daily low of 0.7056. EUR/AUD was little changed at 1.5905 after rising to the high of 1.5950 earlier. AUD/JPY edged up from 78.61 to 78.81.
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