Australian dollar coin
A one Australian dollar coin is seen in this picture illustration taken in Sydney, Australia, July 29, 2015. Reuters/David Gray

Bell FX Currency Outlook: The Australian dollar is slightly stronger this morning, managing to stay above USD0.7100 overnight.

Australia: After testing levels above USD0.7155 in early trading yesterday, the AUD slowly drifted lower throughout the afternoon session,finishing the day around USD0.7115. The RBA released its meetingminutes from the September meeting Tuesday. As widely expected, there was little new information in the release therefore it had no impact of theAUD. A snap SMS Morgan Poll conducted yesterday afternoon revealed that 7 out of 10 respondents think Malcolm Turnbull would make a better Prime Minister than Bill Shorten. The poll, which surveyed 1,204 people, showed that Turnbull is preferred amongst both genders, all states andterritories and even voters of both major parties. This suggests that wecould see a boost to consumer confidence next week. On the day we have RBA’s Debelle speaking on “Bond Market Liquidity, Long Term Rates andChina”.

Majors: The USD was mostly higher against its major rivals on Tuesday night as positive US economic data boosted optimism ahead of this week’s Federal Reserve meeting. US Data revealed that consumers boosted their spending in August. Retail sales were up 2.2% over a year ago and haven’t dropped for six consecutive months suggesting consumers are shrugging off a slowing global economy. The data strengthened the view of traders who believe the Fed will increase interest rates Thursday (Friday AEST) for the first time in nearly a decade. US Stocks rallied to a two week high, despite the Chinese markets all trading lower. The Dow gained 228.89 points or 1.4% to 16599.85, its highest close since August 28. Investors are now just waiting for the Federal Reserve to make its announcement on interest rates when its two day meeting starts Wednesday, with the announcement on Thursday (FridayAEST).

Economic Calendar 16 SEPT

  • AU RBA’s Guy Debelle speaks in in Sydney
  • US CPI MoM/YoY
  • US Net Long-term TIC Flows
  • EC CPI MoM/YoY

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