Midday Update 10/24/2012

Australian inflation accelerated in the most recent quarter paring RBA rate cuts. The mean gauge of core prices rose 0.7 percent compared to expectations of 0.6 percent. The consumer price index advanced 1.4 percent compared with an expectation of 1 percent. Traders were pricing in expectations of a rate cut yesterday at 95 percent and after the data that dropped to 77 percent.

The Aussie rallied on the news and was last trading at 1.0315 to the USD, up 51 pips. Outside of the Aussie, the forex market is relatively quiet.

China preliminary PMI manufacturing came in at 49.1 compared with a final reading of 47.9 last month. This was the 11th straight month below 50. A reading below 50 signals contraction. The data was still better than expected.

Gold, silver, oil and S&P500 futures have rebounded off of yesterday’s lows. The FOMC concludes its 2 day meeting in Washington today. At the last meeting, the FOMC announced a new round of bond buying that sent gold to an 11-month high of $1796.05. December crude oil futures were last trading at $87.13, up 46 cents. S&P futures were last at 1413.75, up 7 points.

I’ll be back with further updates as news develops. Happy trading!