In Asian trading Friday, AUD/USD fell 0.27% to 1.0241. The pair was likely to find support at 1.0193, the low of March 5 and resistance at 1.0301, Wednesday’s high. The Aussie came under additional pressure despite a report showing China’s January and February combined exports jumped 23.6%, easily topping analyst’s expectations for a 17.6% increase. What seems to be ailing the Aussie is China’s import number. February imports rose just 5% last month, well below the 10% increase economists expected. Industrial output data for January and February is expected to show a 10.5% increase when that number is published. Despite what is one of the strongest Chinese data points this years, the import number appears to be what traders are focusing on because China is the largest destination for Australian exports such as iron ore and other commodities. The Aussie was not the only currency to wilt in the wake of the import number. NZD/USD slid 0.33% to 0.8258. The pair was likely to find support at 0.8241, the low of February 28 and resistance at 0.8332, the high of March 5. AUD/JPY rose 0.28% to 97.66. GBP/AUD rose slightly, but the Aussie is still flirting with record highs against both the yen and sterling, the two worst-performing develop market currencies in the world this year.
EasyForexNews Research Team