Aussie Outperforms As Commodities Rally, RBA Minutes Today

The Aussie trended higher over Monday and outperformed most of the G10 except Scandinavia aided by stronger iron ore. AUDUSD is trading around 0.6912, close to its intraday high of 0.6921. The USD index was almost unchanged.

• AUDUSD broke through 0.6900 and the broader uptrend remains in place. Key resistance and the bull trigger is at 0.7158, the February 2 high. A break through this level would see the uptrend resume.
• Ahead of Wednesday’s RBNZ meeting, AUDNZD is up 0.4% to 1.1053. AUDJPY rose 0.6% and is about 92.80. Aussie is up 0.6% against the euro to 0.647 and 0.5% against the pound to 0.5743.
• With the US shut for a holiday, equity markets were subdued with the Eurostoxx down 0.1% and the FTSE up 0.1%. Brent rose 1% to $83.85/bbl after Friday’s sharp drop. Copper rose 1.7% and iron ore is now above $130 as an increase in Chinese steel output this month buoyed the market.
• Today the Judo Bank preliminary PMIs for February print and the RBA minutes from the February meeting are published. The discussion around the more hawkish tone and if 50bp was debated are likely to be the focus.