Ella 
AUD/USD rose to a two-week high near 0.6580 after Federal Reserve Chairman Powell testified on Wednesday, kicking off the US dollar (USD). Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee that the Fed does not believe the risk of a U.S. recession will increase this year. The U.S. central bank chief is expected to make further comments on Thursday, the second day of the Federal Reserve’s semiannual monetary policy report.
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Australia’s fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP), released early on Wednesday, was lower than market expectations at 0.2%, compared with 0.3% in the previous quarter, which was slightly revised up from 0.2% in the latter quarter. Australia’s February trade balance, released at 08:30 am Beijing time on Thursday, is expected to be A$11.5 billion, compared with A$10.959 billion last month.
China’s trade balance (in U.S. dollars) will also be released early Thursday at 11:00 Beijing time, which is expected to drive intraday market sentiment in Asia. China’s dollar-denominated trade balance is expected to jump to $103.7 billion in February from $75.34 billion in January, a mixed outcome for trade. China’s imports are expected to grow by 1.5%, compared with the previous value of 0.2%; export growth will slow to 1.9% from the previous value of 2.3%.
Friday’s U.S. non-farm payrolls (NFP) data will cap off the week’s trading, with markets expecting the key employment figure to come in at 200,000 in February, compared with 353,000 in January, an 11-month high.
