The pair opened at $0.7844 in Sydney this morning, up from a Friday close in New York at$0.7808, the catalyst for the move was China cutting rates by 25bp on Saturday, according to dealers. The rate then eased back to $0.7810 to almost fill the gap and traded around $0.7800 as Asian markets got underway. The pair then slipped further to a $0.7779 low a few minutes after the release of Australia’s Q4 business inventorties data, which fell for the first time in three quarters. Aussie-dollar was pinned back near $0.7790 for the next hour after that as the market waited for the release of the HSBC’s China final PMI reading. The PMI came in above the flash reading at 50.7 but the aussie reaction was muted, with the rate inching back up to $0.7795 before turning back down again. Aussie-dollar fell to a fresh low of $0.7767 in the afternoon and was last at $0.7770. Resistance lies at $0.7843, the 50% retracement of the $0.7913 to $0.7774 move while the 61.8% mark of the same move is at $0.7860. Further down, demand is noted at the $0.7765/60 region.
