AUD trades broadly higher today and it’s still extending the rally at the time of writing. Solid economic data provide some support. Technically, though, AUD remains in down trend against USD and CAD despite the rebound.
Australia trade surplus came in at AUD 1.53B in March, widened from AUD 1.35B in February. That’s also much larger than expectation of AUD 0.68B. Exports jumped 1% to AUD 34.84B, with strong 8% growth in n non-monetary gold to AUD 131m. Imports rose 1% to AUD 33.31B,. Non-monetary gold imports jumped 28% to AUD 232m.
Building approvals rose 2.6% mom in Mach, much higher than expectation of 1.0% mom. Justin Lokhorst, Director of Construction Statistics at the ABS noted that “the strength in the total dwellings series is being driven by approvals for private sector houses, which have now risen for 13 consecutive months.” And, “private sector house approvals are now at their highest level since 2003, in trend terms.”
AUD/USD is trying to draw support from 0.7500 key level for the moment. While it’s firm elsewhere, AUD/USD needs to break through 0.7583 minor resistance to confirm short term bottoming. Otherwise, near term outlook will remain bearish.
