AUDUSD Lower Again In Early Trading On Weaker Commodities

The Aussie underperformed the G10 on Friday as the USD rallied 1.2% on the extremely strong payrolls result. AUDUSD fell 2.2% to break through 70c and finish at 0.6923 and is down further today at 0.6888. It is at its lowest since January 19.

• Technicals imply that the AUDUSD uptrend remains intact and Friday’s move lower is corrective but could signal a more extended decline. AUDUSD has broken through initial support of 0.6930, Friday’s low, and now key support to watch is 0.6872, the January 19 low. Moving average studies are in a bull-mode position.
• Aussie was up against the kiwi on Friday and finished at 1.0942. It is now trading around 1.0913. AUDJPY is higher today at 91.28 on news Amamiya was approached for BoJ Governor. AUDEUR is down further at 0.6393 after falling 1.1% on Friday.
• Equity markets were mixed with the S&P 500 down 1% but the FTSE up 1% and Eurostoxx +0.4%. VIX was down to 18.3%. WTI oil prices fell 3.5% to $73.23 on demand fears. The LME metal price index was down 1.8% on Friday to be down 2.6% on the week. Iron ore is down to $122.50/t.
• Today the Melbourne Institute’s inflation gauge for January prints followed by real retail sales for Q4 which are expected to fall 0.5% q/q. The focus of the week is tomorrow’s RBA meeting where another 25bp hike is expected.