AUD/USD Daily Forecast

Thursday, Mar 08 2018

Yesterday's session was marked by Australian Trade Balalnce figures. Australia’s international trade balance swung back to surplus in January, recovering following a large deficit in December. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), a surplus of $1.055 billion was recorded during the month in seasonally adjusted terms, more than five times larger than the $200 million surplus that had been expected by economists. It was the largest trade surplus since September 2017. December’s trade deficit, originally reported at $1.358 billion, was also revised to show a deficit of $1.146 billion.

In the US session Unemployment Claims data was published. In the week ending March 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 231,000, an increase of 21,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 210,000. The 4-week moving average was 222,500, an increase of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised average of 220,500. Claims taking procedures in Puerto Rico and in the Virgin Islands have still not returned to normal. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.3 percent for the week ending February 24, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the previous week's unrevised rate.

There will be no major data releases from Australia tomorrow, but from China CPI and PPI figures will be relased. CPI is expected to increase by 2.5%, while PPI should fall to 3.8%. In the US session NFP figures will be released. Analysts predict increase by 205,000 in non-farm employment and decline in unemployment rate to 4.0%.

Figures to watch:

China's CPI/PPI (Friday 4:00)

Non-Farm Employment Change/Unemployment Rate (Friday 14:30)

More in this category: « EUR/USD Daily Forecast - 08 March GBP/USD Daily Forecast - 09 March »