Talking Points
- China’s retail sales and industrial production for November both showed solid growth
- However, these sorts of numbers are now expected from China
- They weren’t enough to make the Aussie Dollar look comfy above US$0.75
The Australian Dollar gained on Tuesday after a solid set of economic numbers out of China kept hopes for sustainable growth there very much alive.
November’s official industrial production rose 6.2% on-year, above the 6.1% rise markets had expected. This is a good proxy for overall growth in the world’s number two economy, and raises hopes for a strong fourth-quarter growth showing.
November’s retail sales were even more impressive. They came in with a 10.8% on-year gain, better than the 10.2% rise expected. Fixed-asset investment came in bang in-line with market hopes, rising 8.3%
China’s statistics bureau reportedly said that the economy remains stable overall. But it noted that both the internal and external environments faced many uncertainties, and that China would accelerate fundamental reforms. One dark spot amongst some perky data was property sales growth. At 7.9% on-year in November it hit its lowest point since December 2015, not that Beijing will necessarily mind that much. Some calming of an often-frenzied property market may be just what it would like to see.
The Australian Dollar poked back above US$.075 after the figures, having risen rather mysteriously on some tepid local data earlier, only to give back those early gains. AUD/USD got up to 0.75008 after the Chinse numbers, from 0.74950 just before. That said the Aussie still doesn’t look comfortable above US$0.75, a level it has repeatedly failed to hold in recent sessions.
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Up, but not emphatically: AUD/USD
Chart compiled using TradingView
--- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research
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