AUD News

Australia posted a seasonally adjusted merchandise trade surplus of A$468 million in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

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The total value of retail sales in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.5 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - standing at A$22.581 billion.

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The total number of home loans in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 1.9 percent on month in December, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday - standing at 51,692.

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House prices in Australia climbed 3.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

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Australia saw a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 6.0 percent in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.

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The total number of new car sales in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 3.5 percent on month in January, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, coming in at 93,232.

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Aussie Pares Post-RBA Gain; BlackRock Sees Drop to 85 U.S. Cents

The Australian dollar touched a one-month high after the Reserve Bank said there were further signs easy policy and a weak currency were having an impact. Strength in the Aussie won’t be sustained, BlackRock Inc. said.

The Aussie rose against the yen after the Bank of Japan boosted lending programs. Australia’s currency held a climb against most major peers after minutes of the RBA’s last meeting signaled “a period of stability in interest rates.” Sustained declines in the Aussie would help the nation’s economy adjust to a drop in mining activity, the RBA said, avoiding comments about the currency being too high.

“There is less emphasis on the level of the currency assisting in the rebalancing of the Australian economy,” said Robert Rennie, the global head of currency and commodity strategy at Westpac Banking Corp. in Sydney. “If they wanted to, they could have added more concern that Australia needs a sustainably low level for the currency. The fact that they did not, should help the Aussie dollar pop.”

Australia’s dollar was at 90.43 U.S. cents as of 5:16 p.m. in Sydney, from 90.32 yesterday, and touched 90.81, the highest level since Jan. 13. It gained 0.8 percent to 92.81 yen and climbed 0.4 percent to NZ$1.0833.

The Aussie may climb to 92 U.S. cents, said Rennie.

The RBA will probably add 15 basis points to its 2.5 percent benchmark rate over 12 months, according to a Credit Suisse Group AG index based on swaps.

BlackRock Outlook

Australia’s three-year bond yield rose two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 3.01 percent and the 10-year rate was at 4.18 percent from 4.16 yesterday.

“It’s premature to think that the RBA have gone to a neutral bias on the way to a tightening bias,” Stephen Miller, a Sydney-based fund manager at BlackRock, said at a briefing today before the minutes were released. “I do think that they would like to see the Aussie dollar lower, they expect to see the Aussie dollar lower, but that will come about in fits and starts and only gradually.”

Levels in the currency above 90 cents won’t be sustained, as the nation struggles to move away from its dependence on the mining sector, and it will probably drop to 85 cents or lower by year-end, Miller said.

Wage growth in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

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The total value of construction work done in Australia was up a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on year in the fourth quarter of 2013, worth A$53.101 billion.

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Private capital expenditure in Australia was down a seasonally adjusted 5.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$38.291 billion.

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