The Australian dollar was mostly flat against its most-traded rivals today following macroeconomic releases. While domestic data was largely positive, reports released from China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, over the weekend were mixed.
China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Mangers’ Index fell to 50.8 in September from 51.3 in August, missing the consensus estimate of 51.2 and touching the lowest level since February. The Caixin China Manufacturing PMI fell from 50.6 in August to the neutral level of 50.0 in September, whereas experts had also anticipated the index to stay little changed at 50.5. At the same time, the official services PMI rose to 54.9 in September from 54.2 in July, far above the analysts’ expectations of 54.1.
As for reports from Australia itself, the seasonally adjusted Australian Industry Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index climbed from 56.7 in August to 59.0 in September. The Melbourne Institute Inflation Gauge rose 0.3% in September after rising 0.1% in the previous month.
AUD/USD slipped a bit from 0.7225 to 0.7215 as of 13:20 GMT today. EUR/AUD was little changed at 1.6070, and AUD/JPY was also almost flat at 82.22.
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