During the Asian session on January 14, AUD/USD shows moderate strengthening, developing the bullish momentum of yesterday, when the pair was able to retreat from the lows of April 2020. AUD is supported by favorable macroeconomic statistics from Australia.
The consumer sentiment index from Westpac Banking Corp., which evaluates the level of confidence in economic activity based on a survey of about 1.2 thousand respondents, decreased by only 0.7% in January compared with a drop of 2.0% a month earlier. In addition, China's strong foreign trade data continues to have a positive impact. China's exports increased from 6.7% to 10.7% year-on-year, beating forecasts of 7.3%, while imports increased by 1.0%, after a decrease of 3.9% earlier. This led to an increase in the trade surplus from 97.44 billion to 104.84 billion dollars, exceeding analysts' expectations of 99.8 billion dollars.
Investors also paid attention to Australia's inflation data from TD Securities. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index accelerated from 0.2% to 0.6%, although the downward trend remains from 2.9% to 2.6% year-on-year. The annual consumer price index, published earlier, rose to 2.3% from 2.1% in October, partly due to government subsidies for electricity. The final decision of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on the interest rate, which will be made after the publication of the quarterly report on January 29, may affect the cost of borrowing in February and become an important factor before the federal elections.
The main focus on Thursday will be on the December report on the Australian labor market, where employment is expected to increase by 15.0 thousand compared with 35.6 thousand in November and the unemployment rate will rise from 3.9% to 4.0%.
Today, at 15:30 (GMT+2), a report on the US producer price index will be published. If the actual data coincide with the forecast of 0.4% growth in December, the statistics will support the annual growth rate to 3.4%. However, it is unlikely that this change will significantly affect the Fed's plans, which involve two interest rate cuts of 25 basis points each in 2025.
AUD/USD technical analysis for today
On the daily chart, the Bollinger Band indicator is trying to move to a flat state. The MACD indicator shows a confident buy signal, while Stochastic signals a possible oversold Australian dollar in the short term.
Trading recommendations
- With a confident break above the 0.6200 level, it is recommended to open long positions with a target of 0.6250 and a stop loss at 0.6178.
- Short-term sales are possible with a rebound from the 0.6200 level, followed by a breakdown down to 0.6178, with a target of 0.6130 and a stop loss at 0.6200.