AUDUSD Range Trading Ahead Of Payrolls, AUDJPY Keeps Falling

Aussie has held onto the gains it made against the greenback on Thursday. But AUDUSD has been range trading with little news ahead of the US payroll data scheduled later. It is currently hovering above 66c at 0.6607. Earlier it fell to a low of 0.6592. The USD index is 0.1% lower.

• Aussie has continued to decline against the yen and is down 0.5% to 94.64. AUDNZD is up 0.1% to 1.0708. Aussie has gained versus European currencies with AUDEUR +0.2% to 0.6126 and AUDGBP +0.1% to 0.5249.
• There is some concern amongst economists that the requirement in the Statement on the Conduct of Monetary Policy, released today, that “inflation is expected to return to the midpoint of the target” will mean more rate hikes.
• Equity markets are mixed with the ASX up 0.1% and KOSPI +0.8% but Nikkei down 1.7% and Hang Seng -0.5%. The S&P e-mini is down 0.1%. Oil prices are stronger with Brent up 1.4% to around $75/bbl. Copper is range trading and iron ore is $135-136/t.
• Later the key data are the November US payrolls which are expected to rise 183k with the unemployment rate remaining at 3.9%. There will also be Michigan consumer sentiment and inflation expectations. The ECB’s de Guindos will attend the ECOFIN meeting.