Modest Losses, Nov Retail Sales & CPI On Tap Today

The A$ spent most of the post Asia close struggling to hold above 0.6900. AUD/USD got to a low of 0.6860 and generally underperformed most other G10 currencies, particularly the EUR. Overall losses were fairly modest though, with the currency off 0.30% against the USD for Tuesday's session. We last tracked close to 0.6890. The 200-day EMA comes in at 0.6826. Nov retail sales and CPI prints are in focus today.

• The market looks for retail sales to rebound 0.60%, versus -0.2% prior. For CPI, headline is forecast at 7.2% y/y, prior 6.9%, while the trimmed mean is expected at 5.5% y/y, from 5.3% in October.
• The RBA is watching consumer spending trends closely, to assess the impact of last year's tightening in financial conditions. At this stage, futures pricing is well below a full 25bps hike for the February meeting.
• In the cross-asset space, yields firmed in core markets in Tuesday trading, although not much came out of the Riksbank panel. Equities rose in the US (SPX +0.70%) but were weaker in the EU. The former move likely helped drag AUD from its NY session lows.
• The aggregate commodity index nudged down (-0.42%), but base metals remained firm, up a further 0.48%. Iron ore is close to $120/ton.