AUD/NZD receives a boost from Australian Retail Sales

• The Aussie jumps higher on better-than-expected Retail Trade figures.
• Kiwi remains shuttered for a long weekend.

The Aussie is bumping higher against the Kiwi following upbeat Retail Sales figures for the Australian economy, and the pair is trading near 1.0850 as the AUD turns bullish in the early week.

Australian Retail Sales came in at 0.4%, beating the forecast 0.2% and clocking in cleanly above the previous flat reading of 0.0%. Company Gross Operating Profits for the first quarter also came in bullish, printing at 5.9% (forecast 3.0%, prev. 2.2%), while ANZ Job Advertisements ticked higher from -0.2% to 1.5%.

The upbeat news release is giving the Aussie some legs in early Monday trading, though the NZD is notably quiet today with New Zealand on a long holiday for the Queen’s Birthday celebration.

With the AUD looking upbeat, markets are continuing Friday’s bullish stance as market sentiment improves following the positive US NFP figures  despite ongoing geopolitical tensions arising from global trade issues as the US continues to explore its tariff options and attempts to negotiate better conditions for trade with China.

AUD/NZD levels to watch

The pair is looking to stage a technical correction from the swing low last week near 1.0775, and a continuation of the long action will see resistance at the recent top of 1.0960, while support remains in place at early May’s swing low into 1.0660.