The AUD managed to brush aside the weakest GDP number since the GFC.
According to the ABS, real GDP in seasonally adjusted terms fell by 0.5% to leave the year-on-year increase at 1.8%. Markets had been expecting a quarterly decline of 0.1% which would have left the year-on-year growth rate at 2.2%. Commodity prices were a factor in limiting the fall.
The Euro firmed against the dollar before the European Central Banks final policy decision of 2016. ECB president Mario Draghi’s press conference is scheduled to begin at 12.30am tomorrow morning. Market is looking for tips on an extension of QE or tapering possibility However, expectation is that the ECB will not make any monetary change.
U.S. stocks posted their biggest rally since the election, sending major indexes to fresh records as investors increasingly conclude that President-elect Donald Trump will be good for business and the economy.
Investors are embracing the prospect of tax cuts, regulatory rollbacks and fiscal stimulus under Republican leadership in Washington. Such bets have lifted shares of banks and industrial companies and sent government bonds tumbling. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 300 points to a new record on Wednesday and the S&P 500 also reached a fresh high.
