AUD/USD finally captures 0.90 on excellent data

Australia reported better than expected retail sales and a much higher trade surplus than expected. The effect of the lower Australian dollar might be making its way and helping the economy.

The better than expected GDP figure didn’t carry AUD/USD above the round 0.90 level, but a second move already led to a thrust above this level and a recapture of the level. Can it hold this time?

Here is the surge on the one hour chart: The 0.90 line is a clear separator:

Retail sales rose by 1.2% in January, much better than -0.5% expected. In addition, the move came on top of better figures for December: a rise of 0.7% instead of 0.5% originally reported.

Australia’s trade surplus rose to 1.43 billion in January 2014 ,far better than a marginal 0.11 billion expected. Also here, a revision to previous data was positive: 0.59 instead of 0.47 billion originally reported for December.

The better trade balance was driven by stronger exports. These exports have a better competitive edge thanks to a weaker A$.

Can the pair continue higher? A lot depends now on the US Non-Farm Payrolls. See how to trade the US NFP with EUR/USD, and this is also relevant for AUD/USD.