AUD secures fourth session of gains - AUD....>

FOREX: AUD secures fourth session of gains 

- AUD carried Asia-Pac session strength throughout Monday trade, holding its

place at the top of the G10 table. Volumes and price action were, on the whole,

muted with little data or speakers to sway markets in either direction. Equities

generally fared well, with Wall Street and core European bourses adding 1% or so

to trim the gap with the early April recovery high at 2885 for the e-mini S&P.

Oil markets remained in flux, with Jun'20 WTI shedding as much as $5.

- At the other end of the table, CHF was the weakest in G10 after the weekly SNB

data showed the central bank intervening in currency markets to the greatest

extent since the financial crisis. Last week, SNB total sight deposits swelled

by Chf 14bln, providing further evidence that the SNB will not tolerate EUR/CHF

below Chf 1.05 regardless of the ECB's actions this week.

- US March trade balance numbers and April consumer confidence are the data

highlights Tuesday. Focus, however, remains on Wednesday's Fed meeting,

Thursday's ECB decision and ongoing earnings season. Merck, Pfizer, PepsiCo and

Alphabet all report.