Forex Today: AUD stronger post-RBA, EZ GDP, US trade eyed

A cautious tone prevailed in the Asian session as news surrounding the North Korean missiles launch kept investors unnerved, while at the same time, a lack of fundamentals drivers and RBA rate decision led to subdued trading activity across the fx board in Asia. The Aussie clings onto recovery gains beyond 0.76 handle on RBA’s status-quo, emerging the strongest amongst the major so far this session.

Heading into Europe, we have the German factory orders and Eurozone revised GDP data due on the cards, while from the UK docket, Halifax HPI will be reported. In the NA session, the US trade balance data will be reported alongside the Canadian trade figures, followed by the NZ GDT price index, Canada’s Ivey PMI and the US IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism data.

Main topics in Asia

N. Korea claims it conducted missile launch exercise to strike U.S. military base in Japan

According to the latest breaking news from South Korean news agency Yonhap, N. Korea claims it conducted missile launch exercise to strike U.S. military base in Japan.

US begins deploying THAAD missile in S. Korea - CNN

According to the US military, the first pieces of a US-built missile defense system designed to mitigate the threat of North Korean missiles arrived at the Osan Air Base…

IMF’s Helbling: The NZD is above its long-term average

Thomas Helbling, Division Chief in the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, covering Australia and New Zealand, crossed the wires earlier today, speaking at a media conference on the NZD level.

RBA keeps rates unchanged at 1.5%, maintains neutral stance

As widely expected, the RBA has decided to keep its interest rate unchanged at 1.5%, with the policy statement keeping a neutral bias.

Key focus for the day ahead

EUR/USD: Recovery capped below 1.0600 ahead of German data

Calendar-wise, the immediate focus remains on the German factory orders data, while Eurozone revised GDP data will also garner some attention in the European session.

Risk events ahead - Westpac

Eurozone: Q4 GDP final is released with the preliminary data indicating 0.4% quarterly growth, an annual rate of 1.7%yr. The market is not expecting any revisions.

ECB unlikely to change its forward guidance on rates or QE - Rabobank

In view of the analysts at Rabobank, ECB is unlikely to change its forward guidance on rates or QE in the near-term as various uncertainties remain.

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