Aussie Dollar Struggles on Dovish RBA Minutes

AUD

The Australian Dollar weakened against rivals earlier today following the Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy meeting minutes. Market participants considered the minutes to be dovish as the bank declared that a "case could be made" for an interest rate cut. The board agreed that interest rates would remain at their low levels for an extended period and reiterated its readiness to ease policy further if needed. The AUDUSD drifted lower to $0.6785, and the EURAUD climbed to a one-month high of 1.6308.

USD

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, settled sharply lower for the third consecutive day at 97.82 as investors favored riskier currencies. The EURUSD felt sighs of relief rising to a two-week high of $1.1090, and the GBPUSD edged higher to $1.2985. President Donald Trump met with the Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell and the Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, where they discussed the economy, growth, inflation, and employment. Trump expressed his concerns that US interest rates are too high relative to its rivals. The US 10-year yields erased their intraday gains and tumbled to 1.796%, and the CME Fed Watch tool ruled out any interest rate hike probability in a year.

Equities

Major US stock-index futures extended their rally higher towards fresh record enhanced by the positive market sentiment. The mounting expectations of reaching a trade deal between China and the United States is forcing the recent rally. On the other hand, the US Commerce Department will extend the licenses to sell to Huawei for 90 days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose to 28081, the S&P500 futures raced higher to 3127, and NASDAQ futures advanced to 8367.

Metals

Gold prices recovered from earlier losses as the dollar weakened along with US Treasury yields. The price of a gold ounce rose to $1475 after testing a low of $1456, the price of a silver ounce soared to a two-week low of $17.16, and palladium hovered above $1710.

Oil

Oil prices erased earlier gains despite dollar weakness. The West Texas Intermediate crude futures dropped to $56.53, and the Brent futures declined to $61.91. The American Petroleum Institute will report the weekly US crude oil stock later today.

Major Economic Events

Disclaimer 

The prices and news mentioned in this outlook are absolutely no guarantee of future market performance and do not represent the view of ICM.COM. Financial markets can move in either direction causing profits to be made or complete losses to be incurred by the trader. Each trader must decide for themselves what their risk appetite is and ensure that correct risk management procedures are in place before placing any trades.