Plunge

Risk appetite soured on Thursday, pulling the rug from under AUD/USD. The rate went offered over the WMR fix, erasing the entirety of the prior day's gains. Continued yuan weakness and lingering worry over China's growth dynamics may have added pressure to Antipodean FX.

• When this is being typed, AUD/USD trades little changed at $0.7371. From a technical point of view, initial bullish focus turns to Apr 12 high of $0.7493. Conversely, a sell-off past the 50-DMA at $0.7358 would shift focus to Apr 18 low of $0.7343.
• The SMH reported that "Australia knew about a secret draft security pact between China and Solomon Islands weeks before is mysteriously surfaced on the Internet, with several government sources claiming the nation's intelligence agencies played a role in orchestrating the leak." The pact has been an embarrassment to the Australian government, who were pressuring the Solomons to reject China's offer, with the opposition using it to criticise the ruling coalition's foreign policy record in hotly contested election.
• Labour Leader Albanese is self-isolating due to a positive test for Covid-19, which will keep him out of the campaign trail for at least a week.
• A round of preliminary readings of S&P Global PMIs will hit the wires at the top of the hour.
• Inflation data will provide interest next week, with CPI due Wednesday and PPI due Friday.