Market Watch APAC – 19th February 2024
The PBoC left 500bln yuan worth of its Medium term facility (MLF) loans unchanged at 2.5%, as expected, on Sunday, stating uncertainties around the timing of an easing by the US Fed, as limiting the room to maneuver on monetary policy. The Australian dollar is extremely choppy at the moment and is being heavily influenced by external factors including that of the China economy performance, which has been slipping of late. Over in the US the PPI release saw a rise of +0.3% for the month after a revised decline by -0.1% previously, throwing some temporary favour to the US-dollar. The AUDUSD pair remains a risk on/risk off barometer and will be driven in the short term by the US-dollar moves, but its possible for further gains to squeeze it higher. The AUDUSD close above 0.65-cents on Friday allows for further gains into the resistance at 0.6550’s. Any retreat will look for 0.6480 where a failure to hold could allow for a retest of the 0.6435/45 support. China markets return today from their Lunar New Year holidays.
Wall Street stocks eased on Friday with the Nasdaq recording the deepest decline after US PPI figures eroded hopes for any near-term cuts to interest rates by the US Fed. The DJI was down by -0.4%, the S&P500 gave back its previous session gains, losing -0.5 %, and the Nasdaq lost -0.8% over the session. Australian shares are set to open flat today, after gains on Friday that were supported by financial sector and commodity stocks.
Gold prices reversed some earlier gains, holding on to +0.4% gain for the day, although an overall retreat for the week.
Copper prices posted gains for the day and recorded it best weekly gains in nearly a year, boosted by expectations for further stimulus support from China to help their economy. The LME was up 2.1% at session close. The Dalian commodities exchange opens again today as China returns from their Lunar New Year Holidays.
Brent Crude prices travelled higher into the weekend, amid tensions continuing in the Middle East. Brent Crude settled at $83.47/bbl on Friday.
| AUDUSD
Open today 0.6533 Yesterday’s Range 0.6497 / 0.6545 |
NZDUSD
Open today 0.6127 Yesterday’s Range 0.6087 / 0.6135 |
AUDNZD
Yesterday’s Range 1.0650 / 1.0703 |
| AUDEUR
Yesterday’s Range 0.6046 / 0.6069 |
AUDCNH
Yesterday’s Range 4.6824 / 4.7197 |
AUDGBP
Yesterday’s Range 0.5172 / 0.5190 |
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