AUD Weekly Review (April 22 – 26)

The Aussie is the biggest loser of the week after a disappointing CPI updates renews rate cut speculation.

Australian Headlines and Economic data

Monday:

• China stocks fall most in nearly 4 weeks on worries Beijing may slow policy easing

Tuesday:

• The Conference Board Leading Economic Index®(LEI) for Australia increased 0.5 percent in February 2019 to 106.8
• China central bank likely to pause reserve cuts, but policy easing on track: sources

Wednesday:

• Australia’s flat CPI raises prospect of rate cuts – this was the event of the week for the Aussie, and with expectations of it coming below the previous read, it’s likely that is the reason why we saw Aussie selling early in the week on top of the news from China that stimulative policy will slow.  The disappointing read is also likely the direct cause of the Aussie’s fall on the session and the pressure persisted throughout the rest of the week.

Friday: 

• Australia producer prices rose 0.4% in the March quarter 2019 – This event correlates with the end of week recovery in Australia pairs.
• Australia’s import price index fell 0.5% in the March quarter 2019. This follows a rise in the December quarter 2018 of 0.5%