Selling Pressure Hits AUD After Retail Sales Miss

Underwhelming data delivered a blow to the Aussie, with BBG trader sources flagging a reversal of core AUD long positions by leveraged funds. The preliminary reading suggested that Australian retail sales shrank 1.1% M/M in Feb, while expectations were for a 0.6% growth. AUD/USD lost ground but failed to consolidate under its 50-DMA.

• NZD was bought against its Antipodean cousin after the release of Australia's disappointing retail sales report. Although AUD/NZD printed a five-month high in early trade, it took a nosedive in reaction to the aforementioned data, giving away all of its weekly gains in the process.
• The yen knee-jerked lower after the BoJ announced their latest monetary policy decision, which involved widening the 10-Year JGB yield trading band to +/-0.25% & ditching the Y6tn ETF purchase target. USD/JPY registered a fresh intraday high of Y109.13 before fully retracing the reaction move.
• The PBOC fixed its USD/CNY mid-point at CNY6.5098, virtually in line with sell side estimates. USD/CNH had a look through yesterday's high, with the U.S. and China trading barbs during a bilateral summit in Alaska.
• The economic docket for the remainder of this week includes Canadian retail sales as well as comments from Norges Bank Gov Olsen, BoE's Cunliffe as well as ECB's Panetta & Vasle.