Opened in Asia at $1.0415 recovering from lows in NY of $1.0366 as equities and commodities rallied into the close. The pair has been buoyed this morning ahead of the RBA decision by US black box and macro demand together with a strong Chinese non-mfg PMI release of 58.0 which sparked a risk rally. Local data held few surprises with Feb retail sales +0.2% as expected, but offers from sovereigns capped the move at $1.0451 from early lows of $1.0408. RBA then announced rates would be left on hold as expected with a small spike to $1.0465 which prompted opportunist sellers taking the pair lower again through early lows before finding support in the $1.0395/00 area. AUD/JPY was mauled by an early stop-loss run in USD/JPY, pushing the pair sharply lower from highs of Y85.71 to Y85.03. A bounce then ensued ahead of the RBA to Y85.60, with a brief extension higher to Y85.80 on the headline release, before falling back again to Y85.13. AUD/NZD rallied to NZ$1.2682 from NZ$1.2628 but fell back through the lows post RBA to NZ$1.2622.
EasyForexNews Research Team