Forex Marketz Daily Forex News – Fully Markets Update
The Australian Dollar, against the US Dollar, was rather quiet this morning, despite solid gains in consumer inflationary data out of China. Right now investors are more focused on rising geopolitical tensions in the area between the United States and North Korea.
The North Korean state media, last night, said that they ae watching “enemy elements” very closely and that its “nuclear sight (was) focused on the U.S. invasion [ary] bases.” The United States has dispatched an aircraft carrier strike group towards the region. It is currently sailing to the West Pacific following a number of ballistic missile tests by the rogue nation. US President Donald Trump has also tweeted that that “North Korea is looking for trouble,” adding that the US would solve the problem with or without the help of China.
Chinese inflation, in the form of the March Consumer Price Index, rose 0.9% on the year. This was slightly below the 1% gain expected but above February’s 0.8% increase. On the month prices fell 0.3% as food prices fell 1.5%.
Producer prices for the same time period rose 7.6%, just above the 7.5 rise predicted. The PPI is now at a six year high. Economists had expected a 1% on-month gain after February’s 0.8% rise, and an annualized 7.5% rise.
The Australian Dollar ignores Inflation Data
The Australian dollar is often the barometer of the Chinese economy as China is Australia’s number one trade partner for raw materials. However, today, traders ignored data and focused on rising geopolitical tensions. From Syria to North Korea which has seen a rise in demand for safe haven asset classes like gold. In the currency markets, the Japanese yen got a nice boost.
Earlier in the trading session, the Aussie dollar lost some ground thanks to worse-than-expected consumer confidence data out of Australia.
