- The bid tone around the AUD strengthened after the Q4 Aussie private CAPEX printed above estimates.
- The first estimate for 2019-20 CAPEX came in at $92.144m, signaling neutral conditions for investments this year. That could cap gains in the AUD.
The AUD is pushing higher across the board in response to an above-forecast Aussie private capital expenditure (CAPEX) figure for the fourth quarter.
The Australian Bureau Of Statistics (ABS) released at 0030 GMT today showed the private CAPEX jumped 2 percent in December quarter, convincingly beating the forecast of 0.5 percent growth. CAPEX had dropped 0.5 percent in the three months to September 2018.
Further, the fifth estimate of for 2018-19 came in at A$118,361m – 3.6% higher than the fifth estimate for 2017-18 and 4.0% higher than the fourth estimate for 2018-19.
More importantly, the first estimate for 2019-20 printed at $92.144m – 11 percent higher than the first estimate for 2018-2019.
While a big beat on the fourth quarter figure could lift the GDP, due for release next week, the first estimate of $92.144m is somewhat a “neutral” result for investment in the coming year, according to Westpac.
So, AUD/USD may have a tough time scaling the crucial resistance of 0.72. The currency pair jumped 24 pips to 0.7166 immediate post-CAPEX release and is currently trading at 0.7153.
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