AUD/USD has posted slight losses in the Monday session. In North American trade, AUD/USD is trading at 0.6916, down 0.16% on the day. U.S markets are closed in the U.S. for the Memorial Day holiday, and there are no U.S. or Australian events on the calendar. On Tuesday, the U.S. releases CB Consumer Confidence. Investors are looking ahead to events later in the week, as Australia posts Private Capital Expenditure on Wednesday and the U.S. releases first-quarter GDP on Thursday.
Trade tensions between the U.S. and China escalated last week, but the Aussie managed to post gains. A trade deal between the two super-economies has not materialized, despite assurances from U.S. officials that substantial progress has been made. China has reacted angrily to U.S. sanctions on Huawei and has suspended trade talks with the U.S. Although negotiations will likely resume at some point, investors remains jittery, and this could weigh on the Australian dollar.
U.S. indicators ended the week on a disappointing note, as April durable goods orders were softer than expected. Durable goods orders slumped 2.1%, just below the estimate of -2.0%. This marked the sharpest decline since January 2018. The core reading slowed to 0.0%, down from 0.4% a month earlier. The U.S. economy has been performing well, and the economy will receive a report card on Thursday, with the release of Preliminary GDP for the first quarter, which is expected to post a strong gain of 3.1%. The initial GDP reading showed a gain of 3.2%, crushing the estimate of 2.2%. Will the revised release also beat expectations? If so, traders can expect the U.S. dollar to post broad gains.
