Free Trial

PMI Slips

AUD

A weaker greenback saw AUD/USD rise on Thursday, the pair topping out at 0.7781, last trades down 3 pips at 0.7774. AUD could come under pressure with iron ore lower again, in Singapore the futures price is back below $200/ton and is on track for the third straight session of losses.

  • From a technical perspective AUD/USD remains within its recent range. A bearish theme dominates, following last week's move lower to 0.7688 on May 13. A firm support zone has been defined at 0.7688-75, the latter is the May 4 low. Clearance of this zone would strengthen a bearish case and signal scope for a deeper pullback towards 0.7586, the Apr 13 low. Initial firm resistance is at 0.7813, May 18 high ahead of the key resistance at 0.7891, May 10 high.
  • Data from Markit earlier showed preliminary May composite PMI fell to 58.1 from 58.9 previously. The decline was driven by services which saw a decline to 58.2 from 58.9 previously, while manufacturing rose to 59.9 from 59.7. Jingyi Pan, Economics Associate Director at IHS Markit, said: "Australia's private sector growth eased from April's survey record. That said, growth remained sharp to affirm the continued improvement in economic conditions following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions. "Export orders notably continued to improve, reflecting the robust external demand despite concerns of rising COVID-19 cases in the region. In turn, this filtered through to the labour market with employment improving at the fastest pace in the survey's five-year history"
  • Fig.1: Austrlia GDP & Composite Output Index

Source: Markit


  • Also on the docket today is preliminary April retail sales, the M/M figure is expected to rise 0.5% after a 1.3% rise last time out.

To read the full story

Close

Why MNI

MNI is the leading provider

of intelligence and analysis on the Global Fixed Income, Foreign Exchange and Energy markets. We use an innovative combination of real-time analysis, deep fundamental research and journalism to provide unique and actionable insights for traders and investors. Our "All signal, no noise" approach drives an intelligence service that is succinct and timely, which is highly regarded by our time constrained client base.

Our Head Office is in London with offices in Chicago, Washington and Beijing, as well as an on the ground presence in other major financial centres across the world.