- AUD/USD holds near session lows after upbeat China Caixin PMI.
- The anti-risk sentiment seen in equities is likely keeping the AUD under pressure.
- RBA’s minutes said the policymakers have a low appetite for negative rates.
AUD/USD is struggling to draw bids on the back of a better-than-expected China manufacturing data. The currency pair continues to trade in the red near 0.6120, having faced rejection at 0.6158 in early Asia.
China’s Caixin Manufacturing PMI, which focuses on small and medium-sized export-oriented units, rose to 50.1 index points in March, beating the estimated rebound to 46.00 from February’s 40.3 by a big margin. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
So far, however, the upbeat data has failed to put a bid under the Aussie dollar. The AUD/USD pair is flashing red even though the RBA minutes released early Wednesday showed low appetite among policymakers for negative interest rates. Also, Australia’s Building Permits rose 19.9% in February, bettering the estimated growth of 4.5% by a big margin.
Aussie’s failure to capitalize on the upbeat data sets could be attributed to signs of risk aversion in the equity markets. At press time, the futures tied to the S&P 500 are reporting a 1.14% drop.
The currency pair suffered losses on Tuesday even though the NBS manufacturing PMI for March printed at 52.00, beating the forecasted figure of 45 by a big margin and up from February’s 35.7. The NBS PMI mainly focuses on state-owned enterprises.
Technical levels
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