Aussie owed much of this morning’s actions to economic data releases out earlier today as it reversed early gains and ended the morning session with slight losses. Aussie-dollar opened this morning at $0.8901 and slipped to $0.8883 in early dealings as regional stock markets weakened. The release of stronger-than-expected Australian retail sales gave a aussie-dollar a jump-start and the pair punched through $0.8900 within minutes, and short-covering moves then helping to propel the rate to a $0.8913 high. The release of Chinese Dec CPI however was then seen as a trigger for a reversal of aussie-dollar’s fortunes, and the rate retreated back toward $0.8890. The marketthen took aim at sell-stops below $0.8880, which were easily taken out and followed that with a move for $0.8870 stops. Aussie-dollar finally came to rest at a $0.8865 low before rumored option-related bids kicked in ahead of more stop-loss orders below $0.8850. The pair was last at $0.8881 with more demand cited lower at $0.8822, the low of Dec 18, 2013.
