There were no major data releases from Australia yesterday. Market sentiment appeared cautious on Friday after traders witnessed the yuan fall to a more than four-and-a-half-year low against the US, raising fears of further fund outflows from the region. PBOC set yuan mid-point at 6.4495 vs 6.4358 prior earlier this morning. Friday's trading close was 6.4553 so the weaker fix is no surprise. The fixing is a bit stronger than the close but there's nothing here to prevent USD/CNH from rising to the top of the band again today.
The Chinese currency is in focus because of the introduction of two new yuan indexes on Friday that are designed to measure it against a broader basket rather than just against the US dollar.
Saturday’s reports showed industrial output climbed 6.2% in November from a year earlier, compared with a 5.7% median estimate of economists.
Retail sales gained 11.2% for the best reading of 2015, while fixed-asset investment increased 10.2% in the first 11 months of the year.
From Australia, tomorrow, RBA Meeting Minutes will be released, which could bring some volatility to the markets. Also, HPI figures are scheduled for a release. Increase by 2.1% is anticipated. In the US session CPI and Empire State Manufacturing Index data will be published. While no change is expected for CPI, Empire State Manufacturing Index should rise to -5.7.
Figures to watch:
Monetary Policy Meeting Minutes (Tuesday 1:30)
HPI (Tuesday 1:30)
CPI (Tuesday 14:30)
Empire State Manufacturing Index (Tuesday 14:30)
