Uncut sheets of U.S. five-dollar bills with the image of President Abraham Lincoln
IN PHOTO: Uncut sheets of U.S. five-dollar bills with the image of President Abraham Lincoln are inspected through a magnifying glass at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington, D.C., March 26, 2015. On April 15 the United States commemorates the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Events will include the re-enactment of his funeral in Springfield, Illinois, as well as talks and plays at Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C., where Confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth shot him in 1865. Lincoln, who kept the Union together in the American Civil War and helped secure the end of slavery, has enduring appeal both in the United States and worldwide: his life is celebrated at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., five-dollar bills carry his image and Stephen Spielberg directed the 2012 film bearing the 16th president's name. REUTERS/Gary Cameron

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian Dollar has opened this week of trading above the .8000 level as USD data released on Friday night was weaker than expected.

Australia: The AUD has weakened off from its recent highs of last week but still remains above the .8000 mark as the USD continued its weaker tone versus the EUR. There is a real lack of new data to be released locally this week with the highlight the release tomorrow of this month’s RBA board minutes along with the latest consumer confidence figures. This morning RBA Assistant Governor Philip Lowe will be speaking and and his comments will be keenly followed. Later in the week there are two other speeches by other RBA board members. With the AUD back above the .8000 level we would expect there will be many comments that the exchange rate remains too high and should trade to lower levels in line with the currency’s decline in the recent terms of trade.

Majors: In the US on Friday the Empire manufacturing survey revealed a reading of 3.1 versus the 5 figure expected although there was a good recovery from the rogue -1.2 level from last month. Industrial production for April fell 0.3% which was lower than expected but at the same level as that in March. The University of Michigan consumer confidence figure fell unexpectedly to 88.6 from last month’s level of 95.9. This figure is the lowest since Ocotber, 2014. With weaker numbers coming out of the US the chances of a June rate rise have virtually disappeared with 73% of analysts now predicting a September rise. There are a number of banks that have now predicted a rate increase in December but this is still a minority view. In the UK, construction output for March rose 3.9% mom which was in line with predictions and the yoy figure rose 1.6% which was higher than the 1.1% increase anticipated.

Economic Calendar 18 MAY

  • AU RBA’s Lowe Give Speech in Sydney
  • AU New Motor Vehicle Sales MoM Apr
  • US Fed’s Evans Speaks On Economy and Monetary Policy in Stockholm

[Kick off your trading day with our newsletter]
More from IBT Markets:
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox daily