Australian dollar rises on risk-on trade and upbeat data

The Australian dollar rose on Wednesday after the latest Australian data underscore the resilience of consumers as well as exports, providing some hope as the economy struggles to find new sources of growth amid China’s slowdown.

Australian retail sales grew for a second straight month in September, marking a 15th gain in the past 16 months. Retail sales grew by 0.4 per cent month-to-month in September, meeting forecasts and matching the gain in August.

And despite a 0.1 per cent fall in July, the quarter-on-quarter gain in retail sales was 0.6 per cent, slowing marginally from a 0.7 per cent gain in the prior three months, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Exports were up 3 per cent from August to $A27.4bn, while imports rose only 2 per cent to A$29.75bn, a small gain considering the Aussie dollar lost more than 5 per cent of its value between mid-August and end-September.

The trade deficit for the month was A$2.317bn, smaller than estimates at A$2.9bn and narrowing from the prior month. The August deficit was also revised down from A$3.1bn to A$2.7bn.

AUD/USD opened in Asia at $0.7185, up from early $0.7177 low to $0.7224.

The post Australian dollar rises on risk-on trade and upbeat data appeared first on Forex Circles.

Source:: Australian dollar rises on risk-on trade and upbeat data