AUD Weekly Review (Jan. 11 – 15)

Without any catalysts for the week from Australia, global risk aversion was likely the main argument for the Aussie moving lower this week, possibly sparked by the continued rising coronavirus cases and lockdowns.

Australian Headlines and Economic data

Monday:

“Australian retail sales jumped 7.1% in November as shoppers were lured by pre-Christmas sales with the second-most populous state of Victoria emerging out of its lengthy lockdown”

Wednesday:

The number of job vacancies in Australia surged to 254,000 in the November quarter, in the latest sign that Australia’s economy is recovering quickly from COVID-19.

Friday:

China may allow some imports of Australian coal – “In November, Beijing ordered traders to halt purchases of a raft of the country’s commodities, including coal. Relations between the two trading partners have deteriorated since Huawei Technologies Co. was barred from building Australia’s 5G network in 2018.”

Australian government raises fears about the ‘human cost’ of China coal standoff – “Beijing has told the owners of nearly 8m tonnes of Australian coal to find new buyers because the cargo will not be unloaded in China”

This post first appeared on babypips.com