ING’s Chris Turner notes that AUD/USD has been resilient, outperforming other high-beta currencies as equities have avoided a major sell-off and Australia benefits from stronger terms of trade as an energy exporter. A hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia and better-than-expected Chinese trade data are also supportive, with ING watching whether AUD/USD can break above 0.7150 year-to-date highs.
"AUD/USD is outperforming again and has delivered a very resilient performance as a high-beta currency. The reason it has held up is probably because we have yet to see a major equity sell-off, even though there was a hint of that a week ago."
"And the positives also come from Australia's position as an energy exporter (terms of trade up sharply) and a proven hawkish Reserve Bank of Australia."
"AUD/USD also saw some positive news overnight from the Chinese February trade data, where imports surprised on the upside. Let's see whether AUD/USD can push through the highs of the year at 0.7150."
(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor.)