For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the AUD traded marginally higher against the USD to close at 0.7819.
LME Copper prices declined/rose 0.46% or $27.0/MT to $5882.0/MT. Aluminium prices rose 0.20% or $3.5/MT to $1787.0/MT.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 0.7821, with the AUD trading a tad higher from yesterday’s close.
Earlier today, data revealed that retail sales in Australia rose 0.4% on a monthly basis in January, at par with market expectations and following an advance of 0.2% registered in prior month. Meanwhile, the nation’s trade deficit widened more than expected to AUD980 million in January, compared to prior month’s deficit of AUD503 million. Markets were expecting the nation’s deficit to increase to a level of AUD925 million.
This morning, China lowered its 2015 growth forecast to around 7.0%, the lowest in 11 years, stating that the projected growth rate was “appropriate in terms of the need to grow and upgrade its economy”.
The pair is expected to find support at 0.7795, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 0.7770. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 0.7854, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 0.7887.
Looking ahead, investors would monitor Australia’s AiG performance of construction index data, scheduled in the late hours today.
The currency pair is trading slightly above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.