AUD/USD Ranges Tight, AUD/JPY Lower On Equities

AUD/USD ranges are tight in earlier trade today, not drifting too far out of a 0.6950/60 range (last 0.6951). AUD/JPY is lower, around -0.25% down from NY closing levels, in line with weaker US equity futures, with the pair last tracking close to 94.80. Selling interest is evident above 95.00 but we are well above lows sub 94.00 from early yesterday.

• Outside of lower US equity futures (-0.40/-0.50%), the regional equity trend is mixed, albeit all within tight trading ranges.
• The 2yr AU-US spread is around -31/-32bps, away from yesterday's lows of -35bps, which is likely helping AUD/USD at the margin. Still, AU yields are following US yields lower this morning, so overall spreads are likely to track recent ranges.
• Commodities are softer in terms of oil, but gold is slightly higher.
• Earlier weekly ANZ consumer confidence rose to 82.6 form 81.8, a small improvement, but outright levels remain very depressed for this metric.
• AUD/NZD continues to grind higher but isn't too far away from the 1.1100 handle, last at 1.1110. Yield spreads aren’t lending a great deal of conviction to this move, so we may not accelerate rapidly higher ahead of tomorrow’s AU CPI print.