The Australian dollar benefitted earlier in the day here on the back of some encouraging headlines on China US trade talks:
- WSJ report 'U.S., China Close In on Trade Deal'
- ICYMI: WSJ report 'U.S., China Close In on Trade Deal'
Then the data flow began:
- Australia - ANZ job ads for February: -0.7% m/m (prior -1.8%)
- Australia monthly inflation indicator, headline 0.1% m/m (prior -0.1%) and 1.7% y/y (1.5%), while the core measure, 'trimmed mean' came in at - 0.0% m/m (prior -0.1%) and 1.6% y/y (prior 1.4%), i.e. below the RBA target band (which is 2 to 3%)
And then, just a few minutes ago:
- Australia (GDP partials data) Q4 inventories -0.2% q/q (expected 0.3%)
- Australia January building approvals 2.5% m/m (expected 1.5%)
The GDP 'partials' piece of data is attracting the most attention, showing Q4 GDP may well be under already lowered expectations.
AUD has covered its earlier 'gap':
