Key Points:
US retail sales +1.2% from 2.1% expected but strong revisions to last months print
Gold and Silver close lower to end the week. Silver off 3.8%
NZ election delayed by one month due to coronavirus resurgence
Coronavirus cases on the rise across Europe
The week petered with US indices around flat on the day. Nasdaq and S&P500 both slightly in the red with a couple of green shoots on the Dow as retail sales data showed strong revisions. US yields were mixed with up to 10 years down on the day but the 30 year yield up 1.8BPs. This led to a mixed bag in FX and the US dollar but just slightly lower on the DXY. Within the commodity bloc the CAD moved lower against the USD and AUD and NZD were largely unchanged. On Friday RBA’s Lowe hinted at wanting to see a lower AUD but stopped short of suggesting any likelihood of intervention, noting that it would be pointless. After an intraday dip to 0.7135 the pair slowly moved back higher over the day. We did see a resurgence in GBP and EUR but overall no big levels broken or momentum to get excited about. Silver fell almost 4% on the day dragging its big brother with it. Gold failed to close above 1960/65 resistance area once again and until we see that it looks like we could trade in a range with support now at 1920. A lack of economic data this week will likely focus on any political developments with the Democrats hosting their convention this week with Biden addressing the party and the country on Friday. Meanwhile, the delay in the US stimulus package continues which looks like being early September before we can see any real breakthrough. RBA minutes tomorrow and the FOMC minutes Thursday are the highlights this week alongside numerous Australian companies reporting. News out this morning that NZ have delayed their election by a month due to the resurgence of virus cases had minimal impact on the currency.