Wednesday, 15 May, 2019
(BFW) Aussie Weakens as China Data Stoke Growth Concerns: Inside
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2019-05-15 03:46:19.707 GMT
By Chikafumi Hodo and Masaki Kondo
(Bloomberg) — Australia’s dollar sank to the lowest in
more than four months, as disappointing China data underscored
concerns about the global growth outlook.
* New Zealand’s currency also edged lower and the greenback
remained bid after reports showed growth in China’s industrial
output and retail sales slowed last month
* The prints added to the pressure on the Aussie from tepid
Australian wage-growth figures, and underpinned bets for the
central bank to ease policy in the coming months. Reaction to
the China data was overall contained, with other Group-of-10
currencies trading in a range
* "The Aussie is underperforming today on the back on soft wages
growth data as well as the weak China data," said David
Forrester, a foreign-exchange strategist at Credit Agricole CIB
in Hong Kong. "There’s potentially an element of the markets
thinking that these weak data will trigger larger economic
stimulus from Chinese policymakers”
* AUD/USD fell 0.2% to 0.6929 after reaching 0.6922, lowest
since Jan. 3
** Some short-sellers lowered buy-stops on the Aussie amid the
currency’s resilience near an intra-day low following the weak
local and China data, according to Asia-based FX traders
** Australia’s 1Q wage price index +0.5% q/q vs est. +0.6%
** China’s industrial output +5.4% in April y/y vs est. +6.5%;
retail sales +7.2% vs est. +8.6%. Fixed-asset investment +6.1%
in the first four months, vs est. +6.4%
* NZD/USD declined 0.1% to 0.6568
* Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.1% in a third day of gains;
10-year Treasury yield was little changed at 2.41%
* USD/JPY was steady at 109.64 after climbing 0.3% on Tuesday;
pair touched a 3-month low of 109.02 Monday
* Some information comes from FX traders familiar with the
transactions who asked not to be identified because they aren’t
authorized to speak publicly
–With assistance from Michael G. Wilson.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Chikafumi Hodo in Tokyo at chodo@bloomberg.net;
Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Tan Hwee Ann at hatan@bloomberg.net
Liau Y-Sing
