AUD/USD EXTENDS DOWNSIDE AFTER NEGATIVE CHINESE DATA

• The Australian Dollar is hit by negative Chinese House Price data on Friday. 
• A fall in Chinese New Loans and M2 Money Supply add to the narrative of constraint. 
• AUD/USD tumbled on Thursday after US data showed inflationary tendencies in the US economy.

AUD/USD is trading almost two tenths of a percent lower on Friday, extending Thursday’s sell-off into the weekend. The pair is feeling pressure from negative Chinese housing and lending data which indicates the property sector of the world’s second largest economy is still in the eye of the storm. 

The weak Chinese data is a negative factor for the Australian Dollar which relies heavily on the Chinese market for its exports, particularly Iron Ore, which is Australia’s largest export commodity. 

The Chinese House Price Index showed a decline in house prices of minus 1.4% in February from minus 0.7% in the previous month of January, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China, released early Friday. This continues the down trend in Chinese house prices since 2019