Aussie opened at $0.9243 this morning and has since been trading mostly lower through the Asia-Pacific session. Aussie-dollar lost ground in early dealings to around $0.9232 soon after Japanese stock markets opened lower. The rate then held around there as the market waited for Westpac-MI consumer sentiment reading. Aussie-dollar then fell sharply after the data showed the index fell 6.8% as households reacted unfavorably to federal budget but fall was similar to 7% drop in May last year which was also in reaction to budget. Aussie-dollar dropped to $0.9220 initially and then triggered sell-stops below that for a low of $0.9216. It then recovered a bit back to $0.9220 as bids from around $0.9210/00 then absorbed the fall. The release of Australia’s wageprice index about an hour after the Westpac-MI index caused little reaction and aussie-dollar then continued its recovery off that $0.9216 low. It got up to $0.9240 as short squeeze then ensued before the pair then stabilized, and was last at $0.9238.
