A$ Underperformance Continues In Risk Off Environment

Aussie has continued to sell off during APAC trading as risk appetite deteriorates further with falls in equities and some commodities. AUDUSD is down 0.3% to 0.6598, breaking below the 100-day MA and 66c. Key support is at 0.6576. The USD index is steady.

• Aussie is also weaker against other major currencies, except kiwi. After reaching a high of 103.12, AUDJPY is now down 0.5% to 102.43, the lowest since early May. In this risk averse environment USDJPY is down 0.3% to 155.16.
• Kiwi performance is worse than Aussie and the pair is 0.2% higher at 1.1124, off the intraday high of 1.1134.
• AUD is down around 0.1% against the EUR and GBP at 0.6086 and 0.5119 respectively.
• The preliminary July Judo Bank PMIs for Australia showed that the economy is stagnating but that higher costs in the services sector are still being passed on.
• Equities are weaker with the Hang Seng down 0.5% and Nikkei -0.2% but the ASX is flat. The S&P e-mini is down 0.4%. Oil prices are higher though with WTI +0.5% to $77.32/bbl. Copper is down 0.3% and iron ore is approached $100/t.
• Later the Fed’s Bowman and Logan give remarks and the ECB’s Buch, Lane and de Guindos appear. The Bank of Canada decision is also announced. In terms of data, US/European preliminary July PMIs and US June trade and new home sales are released.