AUD/USD – Aussie Post Gains, Pushes Above 69

The Australian dollar has posted considerable gains on Tuesday, as AUD/USD trades at 0.6940 in the European session. There are no major US releases on Tuesday. Australia will release Westpac Consumer Sentiment.  We’ll get a look at key US numbers on Wednesday, with the release of CPI and Building Permits.

The US dollar has hammered its minor rivals early in 2016, and the Australian dollar is no exception, as AUD/USD slipped 140 points late last week. AUD/USD is flirting with 11-year lows, and has plunged some 350 points in the month of January. Recent events in China have weakened the Aussie, with the Chinese stock market meltdown and the devaluation of the Chinese yuan spooking the markets. Meanwhile, Chinese GDP for the fourth quarter showed another drop, as the key indicator dipped to 6.8%, shy of the forecast of 6.9%. GDP for 2015 came in at 6.9%, the weakest gain in 25 years. Tensions throughout the Middle East have also contributed to significant movement away from minor currencies like the Aussie towards the safe-haven US dollar. With investors demonstrating little appetite for risk, the Australian dollar could slide even further.

With the Fed finally pressing the rate trigger in December, the markets are looking for hints of the timing of the next interest rate increase. A rate hike at next week’s policy meeting is not considered likely, coming so soon after the December move. A hike by the Fed in March is more probable, although this is contingent on a strong US economy. Although the economy is in good shape, one major area of concern is the inflation picture. Inflation levels have not kept up with other economic indicators and remain at low levels. Another concern is a lack of wage growth, despite a robust labor market. The Fed will be keeping a close eye on Wednesday’s CPI reports, and it’s a safe bet that policymakers will want to see stronger inflation numbers before signing on for another rate hike.

AUD/USD Fundamentals

Tuesday (Jan. 19)

  • 10:00 US NAHB Housing Market Index. Estimate 61 points
  • 16:00 US TIC Long-Term Purchases
  • 18:30 Australian Westpac Consumer Sentiment

Upcoming Key Events

Wednesday (Jan. 20)

  • 8:30 US Building Permits. Estimate 1.20M
  • 8:30 US CPI. Estimate 0.0%
  • 8:30 US Core CPI. Estimate 0.2%

*Key releases are highlighted in bold

*All release times are EST

AUD/USD for Tuesday, January 19, 2016

AUD/USD January 19 at 6:50 EST

AUD/USD Open: 0.6872  Low: 0.6837  High: 0.6949  Close: 0.6943

AUD/USD Technical

S3 S2 S1 R1 R2 R3
0.6754 0.6848 0.6931 0.7063 0.7100 0.7213
  • The pair has posted gains in the Asian and European sessions.
  • 0.7063 is a strong resistance line
  • 0.6931 has switched to a support role as the pair has posted gains
  • Current range: 0.6931 to 0.7063

Further levels in both directions:

  • Below: 0.6931, 0.6848, 0.6754 and 0.6625
  • Above: 0.7063, 0.7100 and 0.7213

OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio

AUD/USD ratio is almost unchanged on Tuesday. Long positions continue to command a majority of positions (54%), indicative of trader bias towards the pair continuing to move higher.

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Kenny Fisher

Kenny Fisher

Market Analyst at OANDA
A highly experienced financial market analyst with a focus on fundamental analysis, Kenneth Fisher’s daily commentary covers a broad range of markets including forex, equities and commodities. His work has been published in several major online financial publications including Investing.com, Seeking Alpha and FXStreet. Based in Israel, Kenny has been a MarketPulse contributor since 2012.