-Glenn Stevens, RBA Governor
After retreating on Tuesday, the Australian Dollar regained strength a day later, approaching a strong resistance at 0.94. The Aussie gained 0.15% on Wednesday versus the greenback, suggesting investors' interest in the Aussie makes room for additional appreciation during the week. The first reason behind another rally is the disappointing U.S. employment figures, while at the same time, the Aussie was pushed higher by optimistic data from the resource-rich economy.
The housing market continue inspiring the central bank, as home loans soared 2.3% in February, following a flat reading a month earlier and outpacing expectations of 1.5%. Another piece of fundamental data, that was even more important, was the report from the Westpac Banking Corporation. The company said Australian sentiment improved slightly this month, with the consumer sentiment index inching higher 0.3%, recovering from a 0.7% decline in the previous month. Despite the improvement, they continued to feel the burden of economic slowdown caused by waning investment in the mining sector, as index still remained below the mark that separates optimism from pessimism. Figures also showed that the labour market is improving, as a gauge tracking unemployment expectations fell 3.2%, while a measure of personal finance rose 6.7%.
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