The AUD jumped to its highest in over three weeks, and its best level so far in 2013, in the Asian session Thursday, after the release of better-than-expected Chinese trade numbers. AUD touched a high of $1.0548 in the late morning here, its best level since the Dec. 18 session, when it traded a high of $1.0557. The pair had started in Asia with a mild pullback from the $1.0515 opening levels, as the U.S. dollar reversed some of its overnight losses, particularly against the Japanese yen. AUD was hovering near the $1.0496 morning low when the first set of Chinese data, new loans and money supply. That saw just a mild reaction which carried AUD to around $1.0500. But the big move came about 30 minutes later after the trade data, with AUD now poised to test the Dec. 18 high of $1.0557 ahead of the monthly highs near $1.0585. “The strong Chinese trade data lifted Aussie from 1.0500 and there was no looking back,” commented a dealer. The data showed China’s exports rose 14.1% y/y in December while imports rose 6.0% y/y, both above what the market had expected. The above-consensus surprise lent credence to government estimation that the worst is over, but the outlook for 2013 remains subdued. In the late morning here, AUD was still holding up at $1.0546 compared with a U.S. session close of $1.0514. While all that was going on, euro-dollar continued to be pinned down near its morning lows amid a lack of interest before tonight’s European Central Bank meeting. Euro-dollar was last at $1.3050 compared with a U.S. close of $1.3064, and at the low end of a $1.3042 to $1.3067 range. With the eurozone economy showing signs of bottoming out and peripheral debt markets continuing to recover, the European Central Bank is likely to keep its key refinancing rate steady at 0.75% on Thursday. “While ECB policy makers will likely keep interest rates unchanged for now, ECB President Draghi’s threat of unlimited bond purchases has bought time to focus more on ending the region’s looming recession,” said analysts in a daily note.
EasyForexNews Research Team