For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the AUD rose 0.37% against the USD and closed at 0.7687.
LME Copper prices rose 1.1% or $71.0/MT to $6756.0/MT. Aluminium prices rose 0.7% or $13.0/MT to $2010.0/MT.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 0.7707, with the AUD trading 0.26% higher against the USD from yesterday’s close, following upbeat Australian retail sales report.
Data revealed that Australia’s seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 0.6% on a monthly basis in February, exceeding market expectations for a gain of 0.3%, thus suggesting that consumer spending would likely contribute to the nation’s growth in the first quarter of 2018. In the previous month, retail sales had advanced by a revised 0.2%.
On the other hand, the nation’s seasonally adjusted building approvals retreated more-than-anticipated by 6.2% MoM in February, compared to market consensus for a fall of 5.0%. In the previous month, building approvals had risen by a revised 17.2%.
Elsewhere in China, Australia’s largest trading partner, the Caixin/Markit services PMI unexpectedly eased to a 4-month low level of 52.3 in March, confounding market expectations for a rise to a level of 54.5. In the prior month, the PMI had registered a reading of 54.2.
The pair is expected to find support at 0.7677, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 0.7647. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 0.7727, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 0.7747.
Going forward, Australia’s AiG performance of services index for March as well as trade balance figures for February, due to release overnight, will be on investors’ radar.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
