Australian dollar bounces off post-RBA lows on solid retail sales, trade and housing numbers

The Australian dollar made a comeback this morning, bouncing off a 7-week low against the US dollar following the release of some upbeat Australian data.

A string of data released this morning has helped the Australian dollar gain. A report from the Housing Industry Association showed new homes sales rose 8.9 per cent month-on-month in March from February’s 5.3 per cent drop. The series can be volatile, though.

Better, though, was the improvement in retail sales, which rose 0.4 per cent month-on-month in March. That was up from revised growth of 0.1 per cent in February (previously zero) and slightly ahead of expectations for 0.3 per cent.

Australia’s trade deficit also moderated to -A$2.163bn in March from -A$3.044bn (revised from -A$3.41bn), and better than expectations for a deficit of -A$2.9bn.

Today’s solid data could bode well for economic growth during the first three months of this year. Australian economic growth data for the March quarter are due on June 1.

AUDUSD was up 0.5 per cent at $0.7491 this morning. Yesterday’s low was $0.7445, the lowest since March 16. Earlier this week, on Tuesday, the aussie tumbled 2.4 per cent which was the currency’s biggest one-day plunge since November 2011. The reason was the news that the Reserve Bank of Australia cut interest rates to a record low 1.75 per cent.

The post Australian dollar bounces off post-RBA lows on solid retail sales, trade and housing numbers appeared first on FXTM Blog.

Source:: Australian dollar bounces off post-RBA lows on solid retail sales, trade and housing numbers