The Australian dollar has continued sideways from last week softer finish to trading, opening this morning at $US0.9583. It has been hovering a few pips higher across the first hour or so of trade today. We haven’t seen too much activity across the other major pairs with Friday’s final prices being at the level in which trade has ranged so far today. The Gold price has pushed close to surpassing the $US1355 an ounce level that it hit late last week, trading just a couple of dollars shy of the level, with the $US1375 high for September the next key point of resistance.
The reason we have seen such a muted start today is a lack of US economic driven political activity over the weekend, as well as the fact that, from Tuesday onwards, the week is jam packed with economic events. The focus will undoubtedly fall on the FOMC meeting mid-week, with the Fed set to respond to patchy jobs data, the debt ceiling drama and its temporary conclusion. In the lead up to the meeting, a whole host of US economic-centric data is due; including Pending Home Sales, Retail Sales, ADP Non-Farm Employment Change and CPI.
Locally, today's session is likely to be uneventful as there is no top-tier economic data on the dock, while a bank holiday in New Zealand will also help ensure a slower start to the week. The Australian dollar is just shy of last week highs versus the Kiwi up at 1.1573 NZD and less than a cent below its August high, as the Aussie keeps momentum running across the last fortnight.
Joel Murphy www.pepperstone.com Joel Murphy is a currency analyst and market commentator for Forex Broker Pepperstone and he regularly features on Sky Business News Australia. He has worked in both retail and institutional Forex for last 8 years and completed a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University
