Ella 
The AUD/USD took a breather on Tuesday after a brief rally to the 0.6338 level.
The New York Empire State manufacturing index fell in October, but was better than expected.
Australia’s weekly ANZ Roy Morgan consumer confidence index fell to 76.4 from 80.1 in the previous reading.
The market is awaiting the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting, followed by the release of U.S. retail sales.
The AUD/USD is consolidating its recent gains in early Asian trading on Tuesday. Investors are awaiting the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting, with little change expected. AUD/USD strengthened as the market maintained risk appetite and Fed officials maintained a dovish stance. The AUD/USD is currently trading around the 0.6338 level, with an intraday decline of 0.06%.
On Monday, the U.S. Empire State Manufacturing Index from New York fell to -4.6 in October from an increase of 1.9 in the previous reading, which was better than the -7.0 expected. The data suggested that manufacturing activity may have slowed at the start of the fourth quarter.
Many Fed officials have said they don’t expect the central bank to raise interest rates any further this year. Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker also said on Monday that the central bank should not put new pressure on the economy by raising borrowing costs. Hackel also stated that the Fed should keep interest rates stable unless there is a certain turning point in the economic data. Market participants will be looking for more clues from Tuesday’s U.S. Retail Sales data, which is expected to fall from 0.6% to 0.3%.
For the Australian dollar, the latest data from the weekly ANZ Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Survey on Tuesday showed that the Australian consumer confidence index fell to 76.4 from the previous reading of 80.1, with all sub-indexes declining. The minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting may take a wait-and-see approach.
