The Australian dollar was struggling to find direction during the Wednesday’s trading session amid mixed fundamentals. Domestic economic data was supportive for the currency while overseas news was detrimental.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment improved by 4.2 percent in October. It was a rather good reading even though not good enough to offset the last month’s drop by 5.6 percent. The report said that the recent change in Australia’s government was the major reason for the improving sentiment.
Yet the Aussie was struggling despite the supportive data as news from China, Australia’s main trading partner, continued to disappoint. The Consumer Price Index was up 1.6 percent in September from a year ago, compared to the median forecast of 1.8 percent and the previous month’s growth of 2.0 percent. The Producer Price Index fell 5.9 percent year-on-year, the same as in August and in line with expectations.
AUD/USD traded at 0.7248 as of 11:45 GMT today after opening at 0.7243; its daily high was at 0.7277 and the low was at 0.7198. EUR/AUD ticked up from 1.5700 to 1.5737. AUD/JPY was at about 86.63 after opening at 86.71.
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