A$ Outperforms Boosted By China Trade & Equities

Aussie is again outperforming most currencies but not the yen which is down 0.5% against the US dollar. AUDUSD is up 0.2% to 0.6576, close to the intraday high, supported by stronger China equities and trade data. The pair reached a low of 0.6561 early in the APAC session. The USD index is down 0.1%.

• AUDJPY is off its intraday low of 97.61 to be down 0.3% at 97.77. AUDNZD is steady at 1.0710. AUDEUR is 0.2% higher at 0.6036 ahead of the ECB decision later. AUDGBP is also up 0.2% to 0.5166.
• Aussie looked through the data that showed a close to consensus January trade surplus but weaker housing finance.
• Equities are mixed with the ASX up 0.2% and the CSI 300 +0.4% but the Hang Seng flat and the Nikkei down 0.9%. The S&P e-mini is down 0.3%. Oil prices are little changed with WTI around $79.12/bbl. Copper is up 0.2% and iron ore $116-117/t.
• Later Fed Chair Powell testifies before Congress and Mester speaks on the economic outlook. In terms of US data, there are February Challenger job cuts, jobless claims and January trade. The ECB decision is announced today including updated forecasts and press conference.