Australian Dollar Holds Steady As Trade Surplus Beats March Expectations
The Australian dollar (AUD) continued its rally against the US dollar (USD) on Thursday (1/5). The AUD/USD pair strengthened following the release of the Trade Balance data from Australia. Traders are likely awaiting the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) from the United States (US), which is scheduled to be released later in the North American session.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported a trade surplus of AUD 6.9 billion for March, well ahead of expectations of AUD 3.13 billion and the revised February figure of AUD 2.85 billion (down from AUD 2.97 billion). The strong surplus was driven by a 7.6% increase in exports and a 2.2% decrease in imports for the month.
On Wednesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 0.9% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2025, up from a 0.2% increase in Q4 2024 and beating market expectations of 0.8%. On a year-on-year basis, the CPI rose by 2.4% in the first quarter, beating estimates of 2.2%
Source: FXStreet
