Aussie In Narrow Range, US Retail Data Out Later

Aussie has been trading in a narrow range but is 0.1% higher during the APAC session after falling sharply in the earlier part of the week. AUDUSD remains below 66c at 0.6590, close to the intraday high, after a low of 0.6582. The USD index is also little changed. The continued equity sell off doesn’t seem to be weighing on the AUD.

• The swathe of China data released today came in close to expectations and seems to be providing some upward momentum to Aussie.
• AUDNZD is off its intraday high of 1.0736 to be down slightly so far today at 1.0720. Aussie is up 0.1% versus the yen at 97.05 but also off its high of 97.14. AUDEUR is up 0.1% to 0.6059, close to the high, and AUDGBP +0.1% to 0.5216.
• Equities are generally lower with the ASX down another 0.2% and Hang Seng -2.1% but the Nikkei is up 0.9%. The S&P e-mini is 0.1% lower. Oil prices have continued falling with WTI down 0.8% to $71.83/bbl. Copper is 0.1% lower and iron ore is around $133/t.
• Later the Fed’s Williams, Barr and Bowman speak plus the Beige Book is published. On the data front US December retail sales, trade prices, IP and NAHB housing index are all released as well as December euro area/UK CPI. ECB President Lagarde participates in a dialogue at the World Economic Forum. Tomorrow Australian labour market data prints.