Forex Flash: Australian retail sales drop but not affecting tomorrow’s RBA decision much – TD Securities

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Australian retail sales disappointed at the headline level, down –0.4% in March (consensus +0.1%), but a jump in sales volumes (+2.2% in Q1) bodes well for Q1 GDP, according to TD Securities analysts: “We see today’s report as, at the margin, supporting the case for another month of ‘wait and see’ for the RBA”, wrote analyst Alvin Pontoh, adding that swap markets still price in 50-50 on a rate cut tomorrow.

In regard to new jobs added, there was a –1.3% m/m drop in April, after a revised –0.5% fall in March: “The relationship between job ads and actual employment has been far from perfect however, so we don’t see today’s report as necessarily adding downside risk to Thursday’s employment report”, Pontoh said.