Investing.com - The Australian dollar is trading slightly lower against its U.S. rival during Monday’s Asian session as traders await China’s first-quarter GDP report due out later today.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD is lower by 0.18% at 1.0486 after earlier trading as high as 1.0524. The pair is likely to find support at 1.0478, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.0581, Thursday’s high.
Traders also see the Aussie reacting poorly to some data out of the U.S., which was published last Friday. The U.S. Commerce Department said in a report Friday that retail sales fell 0.4% in March, the largest decline in nine months and missing expectations for a 0.1% increase.
A separate report showed that the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 72.3 in April, the lowest level since July, from a final reading of 78.6 in March.
Economists expect China’s GDP report to show growth of 8%, the fastest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2012. China is also slated to release government data on retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
Also later today, Australia is scheduled to produce official data on home loans. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is to release the minutes of its most recent policy setting meeting. Earlier this month, RBA held interest rates steady at 3% and traders are expecting that to again to be the case after the central bank meets in early May.
On Thursday, the National Australia Bank is to publish its quarterly report on business confidence.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY slipped 0.40% to 102.94 while AUD/NZD climbed 0.60% to 1.2308. EUR/AUD added 0.39% to 1.2531.
In Asian trading Monday, AUD/USD is lower by 0.18% at 1.0486 after earlier trading as high as 1.0524. The pair is likely to find support at 1.0478, Friday’s low and resistance at 1.0581, Thursday’s high.
Traders also see the Aussie reacting poorly to some data out of the U.S., which was published last Friday. The U.S. Commerce Department said in a report Friday that retail sales fell 0.4% in March, the largest decline in nine months and missing expectations for a 0.1% increase.
A separate report showed that the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 72.3 in April, the lowest level since July, from a final reading of 78.6 in March.
Economists expect China’s GDP report to show growth of 8%, the fastest rate of growth since the first quarter of 2012. China is also slated to release government data on retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment. China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
Also later today, Australia is scheduled to produce official data on home loans. On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is to release the minutes of its most recent policy setting meeting. Earlier this month, RBA held interest rates steady at 3% and traders are expecting that to again to be the case after the central bank meets in early May.
On Thursday, the National Australia Bank is to publish its quarterly report on business confidence.
Elsewhere, AUD/JPY slipped 0.40% to 102.94 while AUD/NZD climbed 0.60% to 1.2308. EUR/AUD added 0.39% to 1.2531.