AUD/USD – U.S. Retail Sales In August Surprised The Market

#OPINIONLEADER# #Signal#

 SEP 17, 2021

• Back-to-school shopping drove consumer spending up
• AUD/USD bears challenging the 0.73 handle

Chart 1: AUD/USD H4 chart

The U.S. Census Bureau reported an increase in consumer spending during the month of August. Headline retail sales rose by 0.7% as opposed to the expectation of -0.7%. Back-to-school shopping is the main driver for the pickup in spending activities as schools start to open up for in-class learning. It was also reported that shoppers turned to online shopping amid the concerns of the pandemic, with online sales rising by 5.3%. As the market was initially expecting a decline in consumer spending back in August, the positive data delivered a surprise, causing the U.S. dollar to strengthen.

At the moment, AUD/USD is trading around the 0.73 handle. With the recent dovish tapering carried out by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the released of the poor Australian jobs report, we may be seeing AUD/USD trading below the 0.73 handle, presenting selling opportunities.

Trade Setup for AUD/USD (H4)

Sell Stop at 0.7260

Upcoming major news that may impact price movement of AUD/USD

17 September – US Preliminary UoM Consumer Sentiment data release at 2200 (GMT+8)

21 September – Reserve Bank of Australia monetary policy meeting minutes release at 0930 (GMT+8)

21 September – U.S. housing data release at 2030 (GMT+8)

22 September – Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Bullock speaking at 1000 (GMT+8)

23 September – Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement at 0200 (GMT+8)

23 September – Australian flash PMI data release at 0700 (GMT+8)