- AUD/USD is stuck in a sideways range at daily support.
- RBA FSR has been released, with no shakes and the focus remains on external risks.
AUD/USD is moving in a sideways chop at the end of the week at around 0.7480 and is flat in Friday's Asian session. Despite a firm US dollar, AUD/USD managed to overcome the doom and gloom by midday US session, picking itself up off the floor and correcting from fresh daily lows.
US stock indexes bounced back late in the day and mostly rose on Thursday as investors snapped up beaten-down shares. Helping to boost the S&P 500, Pfizer Inc (PFE) rallied 4.3% ''after the pharmaceutical company said it would buy privately held ReViral Ltd in a deal worth as much as $525 million, its second acquisition in less than six months,'' Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, the US dollar climbed to its highest in nearly two years and the US Treasury 10-year yield touched a three-year high following hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve. In Asia, the greenback has extended those highs. DXY, hit a fresh 99.903 cycle high, the highest since late May 2020.
Underpinning the greenback, the 2 year-10 year spread widened also due to the Fed's plans to reduce its balance sheet. The yield on 10-year Treasury notes was higher by 3.8 basis points to 2.647% while the 2-year note yield was losing 4.5 basis points at 2.457%, leaving the 2-10 spread at 18.72 basis points by the close of play on Wall Street.
Domestically, Australia’s Trade Surplus narrowed to AUD7.5bn in February, with the surplus hurt by a huge beat in imports (+12.1% MoM) due to the higher price of oil and stronger demand. The blow, however, was softened by the second straight month of record exports.
On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia's Financial Stability Review was released:
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RBA's FSR: Important borrowers prepare for interest rate increases
In the FSR, the RBA noted that it is “important borrowers are prepared for an increase in interest rates.”
